Sneaking Around!
by Kris1-2005
Summary: Mostly about R&M, some S&S. Starts off one month after the season finale. Ryan is still in Chino but sneaking around with someone! This story is posted on the fox's OC message boards, I'm pretty much just moving it over here. UPDATED TO CURRENT!
1. Default Chapter

It's been 4 weeks after Ryan moved away from Newport, he was working full-time in a factory just on the out skirts of Chino. He was making minimum wage working 12 hours a day 5 days a week and working his butt off.

He hated his new job and he'd only been working at it for 3 weeks. The heat was unbearable but there was one this that kept him going each and every day.

Since the job was tough he was able to take his 2 half hour breaks along with his lunch break together, giving him a 2 hour lunch. This made it easier to spend some time with Marissa.

Marissa would drive down to Chino just about everyday for Ryan's lunch breaks, it would give her time out of the hose she hated plus she didn't miss Ryan as much now that she got to see him.

Ryan kept his visits with Marissa secret from Theresa, he didn't want to upset her or make her feel bad about his decision to move back to Chino.

It was 11:15, 45 minutes till he was able to go for lunch. He normally felt awake and pretty good during his lunch, but once he got off work at 7 he was exhausted.

12 came and Ryan quickly got washed up and met Marissa out at her car. She was waiting on the hood of her car with a picnic basket beside her. She greeted Ryan with a huge smile.

"Hey, hungry?" She asked pointing to the picnic basket.

"Starving!" Ryan replied and gave Marissa a kiss. The kiss lasted about a minute and Marissa pulled away slowly with an even bigger smile on her face.

"Great, you want to stay here and eat in the car or go some place else?" Marissa asked jumping down off the hood of her car.

"Let's go over there." Ryan motioned to a patchy grass section across the street.

Marissa nodded and Ryan took the basket while Marissa grabbed a blanket out of her car and followed Ryan across the street. Marissa laid the blanket down under the tree and started unpacking the basket.

"So how's Theresa and the baby?" Marissa asked.

"Good, she has a doctors appointment next week. They said that they would run some tests to verify that the test she took was accurate and find out how far along she is." Ryan replied.

"I know I shouldn't say this but you guys may find out praternity of the baby by that right? I mean depending how far along she is you can compare it against how long its been since you two, well you know." Marissa said wishing she didn't say anything at all.

"I never thought of that but I guess you are right but I think they just estimate don't they?" Ryan asked interested.

"I don't know but you can ask I'm sure the doctor will know how accurate their guess is." Marissa stated.

"So I say Kirsten and Sandy last night and mentioned that I've been visiting you, I hope thats ok." Marissa questioned.

"Yeah, of course. How are they?" Ryan wondered.

"Good, Seth called them and is returning home this weekend; tonight actually." Marissa smiled, "And they asked if you would like to go home for dinner tomorrow night, Sandy offered to pick you up. They'd love you to be there, they want the whole family home since Seth will be back."

"Seth's going home, good! Yeah I'd love to go back for a night, maybe I could stay overnight and the four of us can hang out." Ryan smiled and pulled Marissa into him.

Marissa couldn't help showing how happy it made her, she leaned over and gave him a kiss. They continued kissing until Ryan's alarm on his watch went off telling him he only had 10 minutes to return to work.

"I'll stop by the Cohen's tonight and let them know, I'm sure Kirsten will want to get the poolhouse ready for you." Marissa smiled while walking back across the street.

"So I'll see you tomorrow, ask Sandy to pick me up around noon that way I can pretty much spend the entire day in Newport." Ryan called back to Marissa. She nodded and got into her car.

After work, Theresa picked Ryan up.

"So, um, Sandy called me at work today." Ryan lied.

"Did he? How is everything in Newport?" Theresa asked nervously.

"Great, Seth will be home today." Ryan replied, "Sandy wanted to know if I would got to Newport tomorrow for the night and have a family dinner to welcome Seth home."

"Oh, so are you going?" Theresa asked.

"Well I thought I should, I mean they are my family and Seth is like my brother." Ryan answered.

"Great, you can hang out with him tomorrow night. I guess Summer will be there since she is his girlfriend and Marissa will be there too." Theresa said quietly.

"I guess, I don't really know." Ryan lied again

"Do you want to go see a movie tonight, you know after you get a shower and everything." Theresa said changing the subject.

"Actually Theresa, I'm exhausted. We can pick a movie up and watch it with your mom, I'll probably fall asleep during it anyway." Ryan replied.

"Ok sure!" Theresa replied disappointed.

Ryan felt bad but he wasn't in the mood to go sit in a theatre, most likely watching some chick flick. If they were home he could go to bed or something if it got that bad.

Ryan waited in the car while Theresa went and picked out the movies, she returned a little while later with some junk food and a couple of his favourite videos.

"So Ryan you better stay up because I got you your favourites!" Theresa smiled.

Ryan smiled back but knew he'd be asleep within the first 10 minutes.

When they got home Ryan jumped into the shower and Theresa started to make the popcorn. While Theresa was waiting for the popcorn the phone rang.

"Hello?" Theresa answered.

"Theresa hi, this is Sandy Cohen calling. How are you?" Sandy asked very friendly.

"Mr. Cohen, hi I'm doing fine. How is everyone in Newport?" Theresa questioned.

"Great. Kirsten and I are extremely happy, the two boys will be home tomorrow, even if it's only for one day we're delighted." Sandy replied.

"Yeah Ryan was telling me that Seth is coming home today." Theresa stated.

"Yeah, he got home not to long ago. He's delighted that Ryan's coming home tomorrow as well. That is why I'm calling, Ryan wanted me to pick him up at noon tomorrow. I'm just calling to tell him that I will be there then, not a minute later." Sandy laughed.

"Ok Mr. Cohen I'll let him know." Theresa replied half doubting that she'd tell him at all.

"Thanks Theresa." Sandy said as he hung up the phone.

Theresa hung the phone up just as Ryan entered the room.

"who was that?" Ryan asked.

"Oh, well that was Sandy he was confirming that he's picking you up tomorrow at noon." Theresa said feeling guilty about almost not telling him.

"Oh good, so did Sandy say anything else?" Ryan asked afraid that he was going to get caught in his lie.

"Nope that was it. So are you ready to watch the movie, I have some popcorn popped waiting in the living room." Theresa smiled and headed for the living room.

Ryan sat where he always did, at the end of the couch. Theresa sat on the otherside and sprawled out. Ever since he's known her she had always rested her feet on his lap while they watched videos, now was no exception. She stretched out and found a comfy spot in his lap for her feet and sighed a relief. Theresa was working at a restaurant on the highway, it was constantly busy and she was always on her feet. She finally felt relaxed as they watched the movie.

Ryan was able to get through the first one but headed to bed before the second one started. Ryan slept in till around 11. He woke up and looked at the clock, he felt bad because he was planning on spending the morning with Theresa before Sandy picked him up; now he didn't have enough time.

Ryan made his way to the kitchen and found a note lying on the table.  
He picked it up and read it"

Ryan,   
Sorry work called early this morning for an extra shift, of course I had to take it. Have a good time in Newport and I will see you tomorrow.  
Theresa.

Ryan felt a little better. Although he was happy he was going home for the night he was scared, he was afraid of saying good bye again and he was affraid that he wouldn't be able to leave everyone a second time.

Ryan packed an overnight bag, washed his face, brushed his teeth and got dressed. Just as he finished there was a knock on the door.

Ryan picked his bag up and ran down the stairs to answer the door but to his surprise Eddie was on the other side.

"Ryan! What are you doing here?" Eddie demanded

"Uh, hey man." Was all Ryan could stumble out of his mouch.

"Where's Theresa?!"

"She's at work, anyways what are you doing here Eddie?" Ryan asked .

"I'm here cause I heard you are getting involved with my girl." Eddie said defensively.

"I don't know what you heard but you got your story wrong." Ryan shot back.

"So you're saying you aren't living here with my fiance?" Eddie demanded.

"Look Eddie somethings happened and I had to move back but Theresa and I aren't together." Ryan replied.

"What the hell are you doing living with her then, you have to have it all don't you Ryan. First you move away from Chino with the rich snobs you tricked into taking you in and now you want Theresa back too. You are so selfish man." Eddie yelled.

"You better leave Eddie or one of us is going to be in a lot of trouble, I'm warning you Eddie." Ryan said angerly as he got closer to Eddie. Ryan's temper was flaring now; he wanted to hurt him for beating Theresa, he wanted to hurt him for possibly getting Theresa pregnant and for insulting his family.

Just as Eddie was about to punch Ryan Sandy pulled up in front of the house.

"Hey boys I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Sandy said knowing very well what he was interupting.

"No not at all, just let me grab my bag and I will be ready to go." Ryan said giving Eddie a stare as he walked into the house. He quickly wrote a note to Theresa not to let Eddie into the house and grabbed his bag.

When Ryan returned outside Eddie was gone and Sandy was waiting in the car.

"Thanks for showing up at the right time." Ryan thanked Sandy as he sat down in the passenger seat.

"I'm glade I arrived when I did or I may have had to go bail you out of jail and I didn't want to do that today." Sandy smiled and greeted him with a firm grip on the shoulder, "We're all pretty excited you are coming home for the night, Kirsten hasn't been this happy since before you and Seth left."

"I'm glade to be coming home too." Ryan smiled and nodded.

"So Marissa says she has been visiting you alot lately, we were really glad to hear that." Sandy stated.

"Yeah, being able to see her has made it easier on me." Ryan replied.

"On her too." Sandy agreed.

Ryan smiled at the thought of it, when he first moved to Newport he never would have believed he'd fall for someone from there. Now he can't imagine his life without her, she made him feel things he never knew exsisted.

"So how does Theresa feel about Marissa and you spending so much time together." Sandy asked.

Ryan didn't say anything and Sandy knew that he hadn't been telling her about Marissa's visits.

"Why haven't you told her Ryan?" Sandy asked, "You aren't will both of them are you? Because that could have some terrible consequences."

"No of course not, I'm with Marissa. I'm just affraid of hurting Theresa's feelings or something." Ryan replied, "She'll think I don't want to be there for her and I can't just forget about Marissa, I tried and it didn't work."

"I understand but I think you may still be leading Theresa on if you don't tell her what is really going on with you." Sandy suggested.

Ryan nodded. He knew Sandy was right and he wished he could tell her. They were pretty quiet the rest of the way to the Cohen's house.

"So we invited Summer and Marissa over for dinner as well, I hope that is ok." Sandy asked.

"Yeah of course, I was hoping that Seth, Summer, Marissa and I could all go out tonight; I mean if you and Kirsten were alright with that." Ryan replied.

"Yeah, spend some time together. You and Marissa really are great together and I hope you two can get through this pregnancy thing." Sandy offered.

"So do I." Ryan agreed and smiled once he saw there house infront of him.

Sandy parked the car and they went inside. Kirsten was waiting for them in the living room, once she saw Ryan she immediately stood up and gave him a hug.

"Welcome home Ryan, we've all missed you." She smiled.

"I've heard and I've missed you all too." Ryan replied.

"I guess you are anxious to see Seth. He's out in the poolhouse with Summer and Marissa, they're waiting for you out there." Kirsten pointed outside.

"Thanks." Ryan smiled and bolted out to the poolhouse.

Ryan stood by the pool and looked in at his friends, at his girlfriend. How could he have left this behind, everyone who he loves and loves him; he couldn't understand why he did what he did.

After a moment he continued his way into the poolhouse and was quickly greeted by Seth and a huge hug.

"Hey buddy." Seth said.

"Hey man, how was your trip?" Ryan wondered.

"Nah you don't want to hear about that now." Seth replied and made his way back over to his girlfriend giving some room for Marissa to greet Ryan, "It's all about the Marissa, Ryan, Summer and Seth time now."

Ryan gave Marissa a quick kiss and laughed at Seth. He couldn't help but smile, he was so happy that he was back home.


	2. Chapter 2

Marissa and Ryan sat down on Ryan's old bed, across from Summer and Seth who were sharing a chair.

"So Ryan we got our ladies and and entire day what are the plans buddy?" Seth asked.

"Well we can't wonder far, your parents are expecting us to be here for dinner tonight." Ryan replied.

"Yeah not for another 5 hours, hey lets go sailing. I've never taken Summer our on Summer Breeze yet and Marissa's never even seen it before, it might be fun?" Seth suggested.

"Actually that sounds like a good idea Seth." Marissa agreed smiling at Ryan.

"Wow Cohen good thinking for once!" Summer teased.

"So what do you say man, are you up for it?" Seth asked Ryan.

"Yeah lets go!" Ryan smiled and got up off the bed and helped Marissa up.

"I have to go home and get my bathing suit, Sum do you need to get yours too?" Marissa asked.

"I left mine here but I'll go with you for company." Summer replied and followed Marissa out to her car.

"So Coop, you and Chino seem to be doing pretty good considering he lives an hour away!" Summer stated.

"Yeah we are, I just hate the fact that he's not here any more. I miss him Sum." Marissa replied quietly.

"I know Coop! So did you and Chino do it yet?" Summer blurted out.

"Summer!" Marissa laughed.

"No really Coop. You two are crazy about eachother and its not like you haven't before and it's definately not like he hasn't done it. Coop you two are like the perfect couple why are you two waiting?" Summer asked seriously.

Marissa drove silently for a minute thinking about Summer's question.

"You know Sum you are right, Ryan and I have nothing to wait for. I love him and he loves me so we should right? It's not like we aren't ready becaus we definately are." Marissa stated.

"Exactly Coop, tonights the night! Tonight you and Chino are having sex!" Summer laughed

Marissa laughed suddenly became very excited about the night to come. They finally got to Marissa's new place and Summer waited inside the car while Marissa went to grab her stuff. When she got to her room she decided to take some nice clothes, she decided she was taking Ryan out on a date this time!

"Hello?" Ryan answered the phone.

"Hey!" Marissa replied.

"Hey, aren't you coming back to go sailing?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah but I had an idea about tonight. I was wondering if you would go out on a date with me tonight?" Marissa asked sounding actually nervous.

"Since when did we ever ask eachother to go on a date?" Ryan teased.

"I have something planned for us tonight and I want us to go out on a date along, just the two of us." Marissa warned in a nice soft tone.

"Ok Marissa, I would love to go out on a date with you tonight!" Ryan laughed thinking it was cheesy but sweet.

"Great, we're on our way back to your place now and you two boys better be ready!" Marissa smiled and hung up the phone  
"Ryan tonight you are going to get lucky!!" Marissa smiled to herself.

Back at the Cohen house Ryan and Seth were patiently waiting for Summer and Marissa to return.

"So Ryan how has it been being back to Chino?" Seth asked.

"It's been alright." Ryan replied.

"Anything else you want to add into that reply?" Seth asked hoping Ryan would tell him he wanted to move back home.

Ryan knew he should explain his action to Seth, since Seth was pretty much mad at him the last time they saw eachother.

"Look Seth, I didn't want to move back to Chino. I just couldn't leave Theresa by herself to go through this. Seth you could come to Chino whenever you want, I'd really like you too." Ryan replied.

"Have you thought about school next year, how are you and Theresa going to give this kid the life you want to give it without education." Seth asked.

"Seth I really don't want to discuss this right now. I'm home for now lets not dwell on anything Seth." Ryan replied knowing how right Seth was, how was he going to be different?

Marissa and Summer walked in only seconds after Ryan and Seth finished there conversation. Summer and Seth went inside to get changed.

"I'm going to go get changed in the bathroom, ok?" Marissa smiled at Ryan. Ryan nodded and decided to put his shorts on while Marissa was changing.

Marissa changed and came out, she was wearing a very sexy bikini and Ryan couldn't hide his smile once he saw her.

"So I guess you approve?" Marissa laughed and made her way across the room to Ryan.

"Well I may not approve but I definately like it!" Ryan said wrapping his arms around her and started kissing her.

"What do you mean you don't approve?" Marissa smiled at Ryan.

"If we were going some place with other people around this is not the bathing suit I would pick for you to wear." Ryan smiled and continued kissing her. He had never held her with such little clothing on both of them, he loved the feeling of her bare skin against his. Marissa could feel it too.

"Ryan." She whispered pulling away from another kiss.

"Yeah?" He asked.

Marissa lead him down to the bed, she sat next to him.

"Maybe this is the wrong time and maybe you don't want this but I do." Marissa started.

"Marissa what do you mean, if you are saying I don't want us because if you are you're wrong. I want this to work." Ryan replied.

"That is really good to know because I want us to move to the next level." Marissa stated.

"Next level? What do you mean?" Ryan asked.

"We've waited so long Ryan, I'm ready and wanting us to make love." Marissa said hardly able to look Ryan in the eyes.

Ryan was stunned, he could hardly think of anything to say.

"You want us to make love?" Ryan asked not believing what he just heard

"Yeah Ryan, I know the last time I said this to you it didn't go over to well. This time I really hope it works out, do you want to?" Marissa asked.

"We'll see how tonight goes!" Ryan said giving Marissa a really big smile. He leaned over and kissed her again until Summer and Seth came back to get them.

They had a wonderful time on the sail boat and retuned not long before dinner was ready. Summer and Marissa joined them as well.

Later that night Marissa, Ryan, Summer and Seth went to watch a movie. After the movie was over Summer and Seth left together leaving Marissa and Ryan along. Marissa drove them to the beach and the went for a walk. It was such a beautiful night, it wasn't hot because there was a cool breeze coming off the ocean. Ryan held Marissa close to them as they walked, they both were quiet just enjoying their closeness. They came across a huge rock and they sat down together.

"Marissa I know I haven't said this in a while, but it doesn't mean i didn't this whole time." Ryan said.

"What?" Marissa asked looking into Ryan's eyes.

"I love you." Ryan smiled..

"I know, you didn't have to say it but it's nice to hear you though." Marissa leaned over and kissed him. They both knew it was time to head back to the Cohen's poolhouse, so they both got up and quickly headed for the car.

Marissa and Ryan drove back to the Cohens. When Marissa parked the car in their driveway she began to get nervous. She just sat in her seat and starred out of the car. Ryan sensed that something was off and he reached over and took her hand.

Marissa smiled and finally looked over at him.

"Mariss we don't have to do this. There is no need for us to rush if you are having second thoughts." Ryan gave her one of his side ways smiles.

She could tell he was serious and he didn't look disappointed one bit, she began feeling better about it and leaned over and gave him a kiss.

"Not one part of me wants to wait anymore Ryan." Marissa smiled and kissed him again. They both got out of the car and Ryan held her close as they walked towards the poolhouse.

When they reached the backyard Marissa turned towards him and stopped. She looked up at him and gave him a smile.

"Why did you wait so long to be with me?" She asked quietly.

"Why wouldn't I?" Ryan asked.

"You have so much more experience than I do, as you know it took me 5 years to sleep with Luke and it was only once that we did do it." Marissa said hugging Ryan.

"I waited because your worth waiting for. You're the first girl I fell seriously in love with." Ryan smiled at her.

"I'm afraid I won't be good enough for you." Marissa whispered.

"Are you serious because I know already it's going to be amazing!" Ryan smiled and started kissing her.

Ryan and Marissa continued kissing as they headed for the poolhouse, they stumbled in through the door and something interrupted them. Marissa pulled away from Ryan quickly and looked down in embarrassement.

"Hum, Sandy hey." Ryan said turning a little red as well.

"I don't know whether to be happy I was here of what, but what I just encountered isn't the point right now. Something happened today Ryan and I think you need to sit down to hear this." Sandy said standing up.

"Ok, what is it?" Ryan asked sitting down.

"Should I go because I can if you two need to talk." Marissa said turning towards the door.

"That's up to Ryan, if he wants you to stay and hear what I have to say it's ok with me." Sandy announced.

"No stay, I'd end up telling you later anyway." Ryan replied. Marissa sat down next to Ryan.

"Ok, after we left Chino today Eddie went to visit Theresa." Sandy started.

"Is Theresa ok, did Eddie do something to her?" Ryan asked scared.

"No Theresa is fine but she did end up telling Eddie about the baby and about the baby's praternity. Eddie is really angry and he threatened your life. He told Theresa that if you returned to Chino he will kill you." Sandy said.

"I'm not afraid of Eddie." Ryan replied.

"You may not be but there are a list of people who don't want to see that happen. Kirsten and I talked about it and have decided, as your legal guardians, you won't be returning to Chino. Theresa realizes you can't be back there with Eddie around and I'm sure Marissa doesn't want you in any kind of trouble." Sandy finished.

"Sandy I'm sorry but I can't let Theresa do this on her own. I have a job there, she needs money for the baby." Ryan argued.

"Kirsten and I discussed that too. We've decided to find Theresa a place in one of Kirsten's apartments, not far from Chino. We have already gone to the bank and set up an account for Theresa's baby, so whenever she needs something there is money available for the baby. We also set up and education fund. Ryan you are not going back." Sandy replied, "You, Kirsten and I are getting Theresa tomorrow and we're going to look for places to live, although you are staying right here with us."

Ryan didn't know what to say, he was stunned.

"Sandy that is too much to ask of you guys." Ryan replied.

"Well you didn't ask." Sandy replied, "Now Kirsten and I are headed to bed."

Sandy left Ryan and Marissa sitting there in shock. Marissa was scared for Ryan but she was ecstatic that he was staying in Newport.

Ryan slowly reached over for Marissa's hand and held it. Neither said anything for a few minutes.

"Looks like I'm staying in Newport!" Ryan smiled at Marissa when he finally looked at her. She could see how happy he was which made Marissa really happy.

"Well," Marissa said leaning over to kiss Ryan. "Where were we?"

Ryan smiled and kissed her back. He lowered her down on the bed and she pulled his shirt off, they continued kissing and eventually they both were down to almost nothing.

"Ryan do you have protection?" Marissa asked.

Ryan reached over her and into his wallet and pulled out a condom. Marissa smiled and they really took each other to heaven.

When they were finished Ryan laid next to Marissa holding her close.

"How are you, are you ok?" Ryan asked carressing her.

"I'm great, Ryan that was unbelievable." Marissa whispered looking up at him.

"Wasn't it, you were amazing." Ryan smiled, "Are you thirsty? hungry? I can run inside and get you something?"

"Actually I'm really thirsty, do you mind?" Marissa asked.

"No not at all." Ryan leaned down and gave her a kiss before he got out of bed and through on some clothes.

Ryan went into the kitchen and grabbed two bottled waters. As he was heading out Seth and Summer came into the kitchen.

"Hey buddy!" Seth said.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Ryan replied.

"You tell us Chino, where's coop?" Summer winked.

"Uh yeah, um she's out in the poolhouse." Ryan replied.

"I hear you are staying in Newport man, that's great!!" Seth said, "We have to celebrate!"

"Not tonight, but definately tomorrow!" Ryan replied and headed out through the door.

"What's up with him?" Seth asked.

"I think Chino and Coop finally had sex!" Summer laughed.

"Ok and how do you know this?" Seth asked curious.

"Coop told me!" Summer smiled, "Well Chino got lucky tonight and if we head upstairs maybe someone else can get lucky too!"

"Let's go!" Seth replied and hurried up the stairs.

Ryan retuned back to the poolhouse and smiled when he found Marissa still in his bed.

"This is nice, having you here!" Ryan smiled and crawled in next to her.

"And it's nice to know you are going to be here everyday!" Marissa smiled and kissed Ryan.

Marissa left early the next morning since Ryan had to go looking for apartments for Theresa with Sandy and Kirsten. Ryan hadn't spoken to Theresa since he left for Newport. He asked Sandy and Kirsten if he could go inside and talk to Theresa alone before they left. They agreed so Ryan darted into the house.

"Theresa? Where are you?" Ryan called out.

"In my room, I'll be right down!" Theresa called out.

Ryan sat down on the chair and waited for Theresa to come down.

"Ok Ryan, I'm ready lets go!" Theresa said putting on her shoes.

"Hold up a second Theresa. Shouldn't we talk about this?" Ryan asked.

"Ok you want to talk about what?" Theresa asked.

"I just wanted you to know that even though I won't be living with you I'm always going to be there for you, whenever you need me." Ryan said.

"Ryan I know but I was hoping you would come live with me since I won't be living in Chino." Theresa replied.

"Theresa I can't, Sandy and Kirsten already warned me about that. Maybe it's for the best, I can return to school and you can even go too. I'm still going to help with money as much as I can so you don't have to use the money Kirsten is providing the baby with. That should only be for emergencies." Ryan stated.

"Look Ryan, Eddie wants to get back together. He said that he's going to go to get help, he's promised that this will be different." Theresa said.

"You can't, he's beaten you Theresa. Kirsten and Sandy won't allow this, I won't allow this to happen." Ryan pleaded.

"What do you care Ryan, you went back home to be with Marissa. Why can you be with someone but I can't be?" Theresa shouted.

Ryan was speechless for a few seconds.

"I was with Marissa before we found out you were pregnant. It's completely different Theresa, Eddie hits you, it's unsafe for you and the baby!" Ryan said.


	3. Chapter 3

"Let's be honest here Ryan. This baby may not be yours, there is a good chance that this baby is Eddie's. Eddie wants to be with me, he wants a future with me. Unlike you who wants to be with Marissa not me. If Eddie changes and turns his life around why shouldn't I be with him." Theresa replied, "Unless you don't want Marissa and you want us to be together."

"The Cohen's are waiting for us." Ryan said angry.

"Fine!" Theresa snapped and followed Ryan out to the car.

They went to a couple apartments around Chino that Kirsten developed. After they looked at the fourth apartment the Cohen's took Ryan and Theresa out for lunch.

"So Theresa, what did you think?" Kirsten asked.

"They were all gorgeous Kirsten, I loved all of them." Theresa replied.

"So which one do you like the best? Of course we'll all get together and decorate it however you want, personalize it!" Kirsten smiled.

"Actually I have something to tell you." Theresa suggested.

"What is it honey?" Kirsten asked.

"Umm, I talked to Eddie yesterday as you both know and he's promised that he'd go get help. He wants us to get back together." Theresa finally said.

"Oh, is that something you want to do?" Sandy asked.

"Well I don't know, I do love him and he way very well be the father of this baby." Theresa defended.

"Well it is obviously up to you sweetie, but I think we should find you a home though. We care about you and you need something stable for this baby. And after a while if you and Eddie work everything out, we can figures things out then." Kirsten comforted.

"Thank you Mrs. Cohen, I don't know how I can ever repay you guys." Theresa smiled and looked over at Ryan, "Ryan I'm sorry about this but you have Marissa and I do love Eddie."

Ryan just nodded and continued to eat his fries.

"So Theresa which apartment do you want to live in, the third one was pretty cool wasn't it?" Sandy asked.

"Yeah Mr. Cohen it was pretty cool!" Theresa laughed.

Theresa picked the third apartment, it had 2 huge bedrooms a large bathroom and a gigantic living and kitchen area. Theresa fell in love with it. Kirsten and Theresa made plans to paint the apartment the next weekend, Ryan offered himself and Seth to help as well. They eventually dropped Theresa off and headed home and arrived back at 5.

Summer and Marissa spent the day together, the had a relaxing day at the spa.

"So Coop? I saw Ryan last night when he came into get drinks for you guys." Summer teased as she crawled up onto the massaging table.

"Yeah, so?" Marissa asked grinning.

"His hair was messy!" Summer smiled.

"And Ryan's hair is always perfect?" Marissa smiled back.

"You guys finally did it, you actually went through with it didn't you Coop?" Summer bursted out.

"Summer that is very private stuff!" Marissa defended.

"Come one Coop, you have to tell someone and that someone has to be your best friend! What was it like? Was it better than with Luke, of course it was wasn't it?" Summer rambled on.

"Ok fine Sum, it was amazing. He was so gentle and patient, unlike Luke who just couldn't have been any less impatient when I told him I wanted to do it." Marissa smiled remembering how she felt with Ryan.

"Well, you going to do it again right?" Summer asked, "When you and Luke finally did it you didn't do it again after."

"I hope so, I hope I was good enough for him." Marissa sighed.

"Of course you were Coop, what was he like after? Did he cuddle or did he just go to sleep?" Summer asked.

"Boy your asking a lot of questions Sum!" Marissa laughed, "We cuddled and talked for awhile and when we finally decided to sleep he continued to cuddle with me."

"So how you know, big is he?" Summer spitted out.

Marissa was stunned by her question, "That is none of you business Sum, I never asked you how big Seth is and please don't tell me cause I don't want to know!"

Summer laughed and dropped the topic.

Ryan went up to Seth's room when he returned home to see what he was doing that night.

"Hey man, what are you doing?" Ryan asked sitting next to him on the bed.

"Just thinking, too bad the Summer's almost over!" Seth replied, "Did you guys find Theresa a place to live?"

"Yeah, you and I have to go over there next weekend to help her paint by the way!" Ryan smirked.

"Great, I'm an awesome painter! Remember Marissa's room." Seth said.

"Yeah!" Ryan agreed.

"So I hear you and Marissa are doing pretty good!" Seth said patting Ryan on the back.

"yeah, why?" Ryan asked glaring at Seth.

"Summer told me that you and Marissa took the relationship to the next level." Seth laughed, "And I have to thank you because I ended up getting lucky because of it!"

Ryan took Seth's pillow and hit him over the head with it and it ended up being a full fledged pillow fight until Summer and Marissa walked into the room.

"Hey you guys be careful, I don't want to be knocked out by some pillow today." Summer screamed and the boys dropped the pillows.

Ryan looked up and saw Marissa standing next to the door, he went over and gave her a kiss.

"Hey, how was your day?" Marissa asked....

"It was ok, long!" Ryan admitted.

"Want to go talk about it?" Marissa asked sensing something was wrong.

"Yeah! Lets go out to the pool house." Ryan said taking her hand.

"Seth we're going out to the pool house. If you guys want to do anything later come and get us." Ryan said as him and Marissa left.

They went in and sat down next to each other on the bed.

"What's wrong Ryan?" Marissa asked hoping he wasn't going to tell her he was leaving again.

"Theresa and Eddie are getting back together. She found out we were still seeing each other and when Eddie went to see her she decided to go back with him." Ryan said.

"Really, even though he has a tendency to hit her?" Marissa asked concerned.

"She said he's going to get help." Ryan replied.

"Well she does love him Ryan and if he did get help maybe they could be very happy together." Marissa suggested, "Ryan are you trying to tell me that you are leaving again?"

Marissa's eyes started filling up with tears. Ryan looked over at her and saw the hurt in her eyes.

"No, I'm not leaving, I promise. I just don't want Eddie to hurt Theresa anymore and there is nothing I can do to change her mind." Ryan said.

"Maybe I can talk to her, maybe she needs a girls prospective." Marissa suggested.

"Thanks, that would be helpful!" Ryan smiled and hugged her.

"So did you guys find Theresa a place to live?" Marissa asked after the hug.

"Yeah we did, Kirsten, Seth and I are helping her paint next weekend." Ryan replied.

"That's great, so she's ok with you moving home?" Marissa asked.

"I guess, she definitely didn't want me back in Chino because of Eddie but she did sort of ask me to move into her apartment with her." Ryan said.

"And what did you say?" Marissa asked.

"I told her that the deal was I had to live at home. Besides I missed home too much to ever leave again." Ryan replied leaning over for a kiss..

"I know we all missed you too, especially me!" Marissa said in-between kisses.

"I didn't ask you this morning how you were about everything?" Ryan quietly asked.

"Do you mean about what happened last night?" Marissa wondered.

"Yeah" Ryan agreed.

"I was so happy and I'm really glade we waited this long! How about you, you're not regretting it are you?" Marissa responded.

"No, no of course not. It was great." Ryan replied and started kissing Marissa again. They laid down and got comfortable while they continued to kiss. Ryan slid his hand up her shirt still half expecting her to stop him, fortunately she didn't. Seconds later Seth and Summer came walking in.

"Thanks for the knock guys!" Marissa said quickly fixing her clothes.

"Sorry guys, but now that you've had sex you two better not turn into those kind of couples that never leave the bedroom, or pool house in your case." Seth said sitting down on a chair.

"Seth!" Marissa shouted, "Ryan you told him."

"No, you told Summer and Summer told Seth." Ryan defended.

"Yeah sorry Coop but you should know that I tell Cohen everything, well just about." Summer said sitting down on Seth's lap.

"What kinds of this don't you tell me Summer?" Seth asked curious.

"Well if I don't tell you then why would I tell you now Cohen?" Summer smirked and gave Seth a kiss.

"So what's up guys?" Ryan asked..

"We were bored and were hoping you guys were up to doing something, well other than the obvious." Seth said.

"Yeah sure, what are you guys planning on doing?" Marissa asked.

"Cohen and I rented a movie, you wanna watch it with us?"

"Ryan?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah sure!" Ryan said as they got up.

Seth and Summer walked out of the pool house and Marissa whispered into Ryan's ear, "We'll finish this later!"

They finally finished watching movies around one, Marissa had been falling asleep on Ryan's shoulder during the last movie. Summer and Seth got up, Seth was going to drive Summer home.

"You have your car don't you Marissa?" Seth asked, "So you don't need a ride home."

"No, my car's here, but thanks anyway." Marissa replied yawning.

"Call me tomorrow Coop, ok?" Summer said taking Seth's hand and following him to the door.

"Yeah, I will Sum." Marissa agreed and sat up.

"Did you have a nice nap?" Ryan smiled.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted." Marissa said standing up to stretch. Ryan watched as her shirt crept up her body revealing her flat stomach.

He reached over and pulled her into him and gave her a kiss.

"Wow, that was a nice kiss, what was it for?" Marissa asked.

"Just thought you looked like you needed one." Ryan replied and kissed her again hinting that he wanted to return to the pool house and finish what they started earlier.

"You know what Ryan, I'd love to but I am so tired!" Marissa sighed.

"That's ok, but can't you just stay the night?" Ryan whined.

"I stayed over last night, don't you think the Cohen's wouldn't approve?" Marissa asked sitting down on his lap.

"They don't have to know, they haven't said anything yet." Ryan protested.

"Come on, let's go to bed." Marissa gave in and they headed out to the pool house.


	4. Chapter 4

Once Ryan and Marissa entered the poolhouse Marissa pulled Ryan into her.

"Are we going to finish what we started earlier?" Marissa smiled up at Ryan.

Ryan wrapped his arms around her and looked down and kissed her.

"Is that your way of saying yes?" Marissa teased.

"What do you think?" Ryan laughed.

"I don't think you want me?" Marissa joked pushing him over to the bed.

"Really?" Ryan replied and pulled off Marissa's shirt.

"If you do, prove it!" Marissa demanded as she went in to kiss him.

Ryan kissed her back and lead her down on the bed. He pulled away and removed his shirt before he returned and began kissing her body. Marissa ran her hands down Ryan's back. Ryan's lips felt so good against her skin; he kissed her neck before moving down to her shoulder blades, down to the crease between her breasts and he continued kissing her until he reached her waist and returned back up again. He slowly slid her bra straps down her arms before reaching behind her and removing her bra.

Marissa reached down and unbuttoned Ryan's pants as she kissed Ryan passionately. She pulled away from him and kneeled above him and pulled the rest of his clothes off and then pulled the rest of hers off as well.

Ryan looked at her still amazed of how beautiful she was, he reached up and pulled her back down to make love to her.

The next morning Marissa woke up pretty early so she got up and began getting dressed. Once she finished she noticed that Ryan was awake watching her.

"Were you awake this entire time?" Marissa asked slightly embarrassed.

"Maybe!" Ryan replied back.

"Ryan!" Marissa said and threw a pillow at him.

"What?" Ryan laughed, "It's not like I haven't seen you get undressed before, what's the difference?"

"I don't know but..." Marissa started and stopped herself. She crawled back into bed with Ryan.

"Good morning!" Ryan said kissing her.

"Good morning!" Marissa replied not being able to hold back her smile.

"What's the smile for?" Ryan asked.

"For last night!" Marissa said resting her head on Ryan's chest.

"Yeah?" Ryan replied, "Last night was pretty incredible wasn't it?"

"OMG was it ever!" Marissa sighed remembering how she felt the night before.

She looked up at him and he leaned into her and they started kissing but were interrupted by Seth and Summer.

"Hey kissing, I should be used to walking in on this!" Seth laughed.

"What are you guys doing out here so early?" Marissa asked giving Ryan a quick glance before sitting up.

"Cohen is taking me sailing, he said the best time is in the morning. The dumb a$$ got me out of bed so it better be good." Summer replied.

"Summer's not a morning person as you can tell. So do you guys want to come along?" Seth said wrapping his arms around Summer.

Marissa and Ryan both looked at each other and both nodded.

"Sure we'll go, we'll meet you outside but I have to jump in the shower but it won't take long." Ryan replied.

Seth and Summer went outside and left Ryan and Marissa together.

Marissa leaned down to Ryan and gave him a kiss.

"I love you!" Marissa said pulling away from the kiss.

Seth and Summer met Mr. Roberts at the country club again, Seth was determined to change her father's opion of him. Once they were told where he was seated Summer and Seth headed for his table hand and hand.

"Good afternoon!" Seth said confident.

"Seth." Mr. Roberts coldly stated and gave his daughter a hug.

"Hi daddy." Summer said as he pulled her seat out for her.

"Where did you two come from?" Mr. Roberts asked.

"Oh, I took Summer out on my boat this morning." Seth replied.

"Yeah daddy, Seth is teaching me how to sail." Summer stated.

"Really, you sail do you Seth?" Mr. Roberts asked.

"Yeah, I own my own boat. It's one of my favourite past times sir." Seth smiled.

"I used to sail as well, back in the day." Mr. Roberts informed them.

"You did!" Seth replied amazed.

"Yeah I was the captain of my high school sailing team!" Mr. Roberts said beginning to loosen up.

"Wow dad, Seth is too!" Summer said happily, "You two have more in common then any of us knew."

Summer reached out and grabbed Seth's and her fathers hands and smiled at both of them.

They continued to talk and before long Mr. Roberts and Seth were planning a sailing day trip.

"So Seth, what do your parents do for a living?" Mr. Roberts asked.

"My father is a public defender, well he was now he works with a large laywer firm and my mother is in residential designs, well something of that nature." Seth answered.

"Right, you're Caleb Nichol's grandson aren't you?" Mr. Roberts clued in.

"That's right sir." Seth replied.

"Well I hate to be cutting this short but I have a client I'm supposed to meet later on." Mr. Roberts said standing up, "I'm glade we did this again, sweetie you picked a pretty good guy here."

Summer stood up and gave her father a hug.

"Thanks daddy, see you later?" Summer asked.

"Of course, hope we can schedule that sailing trip soon Seth." Mr. Roberts said as he began walking away.

Summer looked over at Seth and gave him a big smile. Seth leaned over and gave her a kiss.

"I think the last lunch we had went better don't you Summer?" Seth asked taking her hand.

"Cohen!" Summer shouted.

"Just kidding, jeez. I knew he'd like me!" Seth smiled.

"I'm glade he did." Summer said and followed Seth out of the club.

Seth and Summer returned to the Cohen's house and travelled out into the poolhouse.

"Hey. How did lunch go?" Ryan asked looking up from his book.

"Great, he was like putty in my hands Ryan. It was so smooth! You should have been there, it was a site to see!" Seth replied.

"Glade to hear it." Ryan said closing his book to put it away.

"Where's Coop Chino?" Summer asked looking around for her.

"Yeah Ryan where is she, she's always here." Seth agreed.

"She's gone home for awhile, why?" Ryan replied.

"Oh, I'm just used to coming out here and having Coop here, can I use the phone I'm going to give her a call." Summer said.

"Yeah of course." Ryan said passing her the phone.

"Hello?" Julie answered.

"Hi Mrs. Nichol. Is Marissa there?" Summer asked.

"Hi Summer, yes she's here I'll get her for you." Julie said.

"Hello?" Marissa answered.

"Hey Coop, what are you doing there? Why aren't you here with Ryan, I came into the poolhouse expecting you to be here." Summer sighed.

"Sorry Sum. One of my mom's frieds and her son are here for a couple of nights, she wanted me here when they got there. I think she wants me to keep her son busy or something." Marissa replied.

"What! How old is he?" Summer asked.

"He's 18, once they get here I'm heading over there anyways." Marissa said.

"Does Chino know that you're going to be babysitting an 18 year old guy, cause I don't think he's going to like it." Summer said.

"He knows that someone will be with me, besides Sum I'm taking him over there. It's not like I'll be out with him by myself, Ryan will be there." Marissa replied.

"Well you better hope he's not hot, because you know the way Chino gets!" Summer said.

"I got to go Summer they're here, tell Ryan I'll be there soon." Marissa said and hung the phone up.

A tall dark haird guy walked in and Marissa's mouth just about dropped.

"Marissa come here and say hi!" Julie yelled out, "Marissa this is Andy and you do remember Kate don't you sweetie?"

"Yeah hi." Marissa said

"Why don't you and Andy go get to know each other while Kate and I get caught up?" Julie suggested.

"Actually I was headed over to Ryan's but Andy you are more than welcome to come along." Marissa suggested.

"Ryan? Is that your boyfriend?" Andy asked.

"Yup!" Marissa cheerfully responded, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"I do, she's supposed to be visiting family here this weekend. I should call her up and invite her to come out with us, since we're going to meet up with your boyfriend and all." Andy suggested.

"Great, give her a call. I could pick her up on the way." Marissa replied.

Andy left the room to make the call on his cell. He came back and let Marissa know she was up to going with them. Andy and Marissa drove to the adress that Andy gave to her. Andy jumped out to go get her and when he returned back to the car with his girlfriend Marissa's mouth dropped again in shock.

"Anna!" Marissa screamed, "What are you doing back here?"

"Marissa, I had no idea that we were going out with you!! Are you and Ryan back together?" Anna said excitedly giving Marissa a hug.

"Yeah, a lot has happened since you left though and maybe later I can fill you in on it. We're actually going to meet up with Seth and Summer, ist that ok with you?" Marissa asked.

"No that's fine. Andy Seth was someone I used to date here but it didn't work out, actually its the guy I told you about." Anna said turning her attention to Andy.

"Great!" Andy said sarcastically, "So you guys used to hang out when you lived here?"

"We were all pretty good friends, some of us more than others. Marissa and Ryan were usually found together while Seth, Summer and I were more or less together." Anna replied.

"Seth will be happy to see you, he actually just came back from a sailing trip. I think he was headed to Tahiti or he went there, I don't really know but I guess he'll fill you in on it." Marissa informed.

"I'm so glade you and Ryan are back together. What happened to his friend Theresa?" Anna asked.

"That is actually a long question. But the night you left she left as well and eventually Ryan and I began to get close again." Marissa replied.

Marissa pulled into the Cohen's drive way and the three got out and headed to the poolhouse. Once they opened the door and everyone realized who was with Marissa Seth jumped up.

"Anna, you're back. OMG!" Seth shouted giving Anna a huge hug.

"Hi Seth, this is Andy." Anna announced to Seth and everyone else.

Summer stared over at Andy she was stunned by how goodlooking he was.

"Anna your back it's nice to see you." Summer said giving her a hug as well, "Is that your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, he's great!" Anna smiled and reached for his hand.

Marissa went over and sat down next to Ryan and leaned over to give him a kiss.

"Anna it's great that you're back!" Ryan gave her a wave.

"Yeah it's nice to be back, although I'm only here for the weekend. Andy had to come with his mother so I decided to come visit my parents for the weekend." Anna announced.

Summer sat down next to Marissa, "He is gorgeous Marissa!"

"I know!" Marissa replied.

"Hey I'm sitting right here." Ryan replied to the girls gwaking over the guy with Anna but the girls just smiled at eachother.

"So Seth I heard you went on a sailing trip, did you make it to Tahiti?" Anna asked.

"No quite it was the wrong time to take off, a lot of stuff had happened and I just left for the wrong reasons." Seth said quietly reaching for Summer.

"But none of us want to get into that right now do we?" Marissa responded.

"Nope!" The three quickly replied.

"What were you guys going to do tonight, let me guess play video games?" Anna joked.

"Actually that sounds like a good idea, we haven't done that in a while and since Anna's back it could be like the old times!" Seth agreed.

"When you and Anna were dating?" Summer shot a look at Seth.

"But now we're all with the right people. I'm with you, Ryan and Marissa are together and Anna and Andy are together!" Seth replied holding her tightly around the waist.

"Sounds great to me, anyone else?" Andy replied.

They all agreed and went into the main house to play

"So Anna, how did you and Andy meet?" Summer asked.

"He's a friend of my cousin's boyfriend. We met not to long after i left here." Anna replied.

"Did you guys know eachother before?" Seth asked.

"No, but look at him how could I not fall for him!" Anna smiled and kissed Andy.

"I'm going to get a drink, anyone want?" Marissa asked.

Everyone did so Andy offered to help. Ryan gave Andy a look, which Marissa caught.

"Ryan, he has a girlfriend. Don't get like this!" Marissa whispered into Ryan's ear.

"Sorry." Ryan replied and gave her a quick half smile.

"So how long have you and Ryan been together?" Andy asked.

"Well a year just about but we were broken up for a little while within that year." Marissa replied, "You and Anna seem happy."

"Yeah, she's great. She really can put adventure into someone's life!" Andy said moving closer to Marissa while she was reaching into the fridge.

"Yeah she is pretty fun. Really sweet girl though!" Marissa replied not sure why he was so close to her.

"But there's just one problem." Andy said getting even closer.

"What?" Marissa asked nervously.

"Well I could sense that you are attracted to me and I can't keep my eyes off of you tonight." Andy said gliding his hand down over her arm.

"Excuse me?" Marissa said trying to step back but the fridge was in her way.

"I just want to kiss you, what harm is in that right?" Andy said lowering his lips down to her.

Marissa was seriously scared, she didn't want to yell knowing Ryan would kill him. She couldn't move away, he had her held by the two arms. He continued getting closer and closer to her lips and eventually his lips touched hers. She could feel his tongue brushing up against her lips, she would not dare open her mouth though. He pulled his face slightly away.

"If you don't kiss me back, I swear you'll regret it!" Andy warned, "You better kiss me back or you really don't want to know why will happen."

He lowered his lips back to hers, she was literally terrified now. She wanted to call for Ryan now, she wasn't affraid of what he'd do to Andy now but now she was affraid what he might do to her. She felt that she had no choice and as he reached her mouth she did as she was told and began kissing him back.

When he pulled away he had a huge grin on his face which made Marissa shiever. She turned quickly away from him and headed to the washroom where she quickly locked the door. She started to cry.

Andy went back to everyone and handed out the drinks. After a while Ryan realized Marissa hadn't come back.

"Where's Marissa?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know." Andy replied, "Anna I do you think we could take off? I'm starting to get tired."

"Yeah sure, I'll call a cab." Anna replied.

Ryan got up and went looking for Marissa. He went out to the poolhouse but she wasn't there, he checked around the yard and the living room but he still couldn't find her. He went out to the driveway and her car was still parked so he said bye to Anna and Andy and continued looking for her. He finally found her in the bathroom.

He knocked on the door, "Marissa are you in there?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah." Marissa said trying to calm her voice.

"Are you ok?" Ryan asked through the door.

Marissa couldn't hide her crying and Ryan heard it through the door.

"Marissa open the door, are you crying?" Ryan insisted.

Marissa slowly unlocked the door and let Ryan in.

"What's the matter? Why are you crying?" Ryan asked.

Marissa just continued crying, Ryan sat down next to her and held her. She cuddled into him and continued crying without saying a word.

"Ryan? Marissa? Are you guys in there?" Seth called through the door.

"Yeah." Ryan replied.

"I'm taking Summer home." Seth replied.

"Ok man." Ryan replied.

"Where's Anna?" Marissa finally spoke.

"They left a little while ago, they called a cab." Ryan replied, "Can you tell me what is wrong."


	5. Chapter 5

"Ryan something happened and if I tell you, you have to promise not to do anything about it." Marissa sobbed.

"Marissa please tell me what is going on." Ryan demanded.

"Only if you promise not to do anything stupid, promise me Ryan." Marissa begged.

"Fine, Marissa you're scarring me." Ryan admitted.

"When Andy came into the kitchen with me, he came on to me. He told me if I didn't do what he wanted then he would do something to me." Marissa sobbed.

"What? What the hell happened?" Ryan demanded.

"He kissed me, when I wouldn't kiss him back he threaten to do something else to me. He scared me Ryan, he forced me to kiss him. I wanted to call out to you but he made it clear that I had to do what he wanted." Marissa began crying again.

"That ba$trd. He's going to pay for this." Ryan flipped out.

Marissa jumped up and grabbed him.

"NO Ryan, you promised me you wouldn't do anything. I need you here with me, don't do anything Ryan." Marissa begged.

"He forced you to do something you didn't want to do, you really want to let him away with this." Ryan yelled.

"No but Ryan I'm afraid that he would hurt you or maybe even come after me. His mother is my mom's friend, he could be at my house anytime this weekend. I don't want to make him mad because it may cause him to do something worse." Marissa continued begging.

"You're not going back home till he's gone, I won't allow it." Ryan said holding on to her, "If he would do this with all of us around, I don't want to imagine what he would do if he got you alone at your house."

Marissa hugged Ryan and stayed close to him. They made their way to the pool house and Ryan tucked her into his bed until she fell asleep. He debated whether or not to go after Andy and decided to go, but once he looked over at Marissa he promised her he wouldn't. He then crawled into bed next to her and held her close, he didn't want anything else to happen. He swore to himself he would never let this happen to her again, no one would ever make her cry again.

Ryan couldn't sleep the entire night, he was determined to find a way to make Andy pay for what he did to Marissa. Ryan didn't want to go against the promise he made to Marissa but he wasn't the type to sit around when something obviously needed to be done. After hours of lying in bed beside Marissa he finally came up with a solution.

"Ryan wake up." Marissa said shaking Ryan the next morning.

Ryan grunted and rolled over ignoring Marissa's morning call.

"Ryan come on wake up the Cohen's are waiting to eat breakfast!" Marissa continued shaking him.

Ryan didn't budge and Marissa was beginning to get frustrated with him, Ryan was the worst person to get out of bed. Marissa then decided to try and kiss him, if he didn't wake up she was going to go eat without him.

She leaned over and started kissing him making sure it was a kiss he could not ignore. He immediately woke up and to her surprise instead of getting up he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down onto the bed turning her wake-up kiss into a wake-up make out session. Eventually Marissa pulled away because it started to get pretty hot between them.

"The Cohen's are waiting for us to go eat breakfast with them, as much as I'd rather do this we have to go in." Marissa sighed standing up to fix her clothes.

"Just five more minutes?" Ryan begged.

"Ryan! Come on before some one comes out here looking for us." Marissa said reaching one hand out for him.

With a disappointed smile on his face Ryan got up and followed her into the main house.

"Sorry but we got tired of waiting for you two." Sandy said biting into a slice of toast.

"Yeah, Ryan wouldn't get out of bed." Marissa replied, "I don't know why; right after Seth took Summer home I went to sleep didn't you Ryan?" Marissa asked.

"No I couldn't sleep, it took me hours to finally get to sleep." Ryan replied yawning.

"I knew it Marissa snores!!" Seth joked.

"I do not!" Marissa replied defensively.

"Ryan does Marissa snore?" Seth laughed.

Ryan smiled, "No I just had some stuff on my mind."

Marissa looked over at Ryan and remembered everything about the night before and suddenly didn't feel like eating anything.

After breakfast Marissa and Ryan did the dishes so Sandy and Kirsten could get ready for work.

"Thank you Ryan for being so understanding last night it meant a lot ot me." Marissa said wrapping her arms around Ryan.

"It's nothing." Ryan replied and held her close, "What are you doing today?"

"Hanging out with you I hope?" Marissa asked, "I mean if you want."

"Yeah of course but there's something I got to do sometime today, I'm sure Summer and Seth will be here while I take off for a bit." Ryan replied.

"What sort of thing to you have to do?" Marissa replied curiously.

"Oh uh I have to take Theresa somewhere. You don't mind do you?" Ryan asked.

"Oh. No that's fine." Marissa replied looking up, she leaned in and gave him a kiss, "Of course it's ok."

Summer dropped by the Cohen house later that afternoon so Ryan decided to take off. He made his way to Anna's old house, he figured she was staying there since her parents didn't move back to Pittsburgh with her. Ryan knocked on the door.

"Ryan what are you doing here?" Anna asked as she opened the door.

"Hey I was wondering if you knew where I could find Andy." Ryan replied.

"Um actually he's on his way over here, you can come in and wait for him if you like." Anna suggested.

"Actually do you mind if I wait out here, there's something I want to talk to him about alone, if you don't mind." Ryan not wanting to say too much.

"Sure, well tell Andy to just come in after you guys are done ok." Anna replied.

"Thanks Anna!" Ryan smiled and sat down on her steps when she went back inside.

A few minutes later Andy pulled into the driveway and made his way to the door when he spotted Ryan on the porch.

"Hey, Ryan right?" Andy said nervously.

"Yeah." Ryan replied and stood up and walked up to Andy.

"What's going on?" Andy asked.

"So I found Marissa last night after you guys left, locked in the bathroom crying; do you know why Andy?" Ryan asked half shouting.

"I don't know what you're talking about man." Andy snapped back.

"Really, tell me does any of this sound familiar: forcing my girlfriend into kissing you, threatening her not to say anything or else you'll do much more to her?" Ryan said pushing Andy.

"I don't what she told you but your girlfriend is a liar." Andy replied.

"Right that's why she locked herself in a bathroom crying; someone who is lying does that right?" Ryan asked.

"Hey buddy, she kissed me." Andy lied.

Ryan stated to get really angry.

"You better listen and listen real good; what you did last night is against the law, Marissa doesn't know this but I talked to someone about what happened and if Marissa wants to press charges against you she can. If you even lay one finger on her again you don't have to just worry about going to jail but I will find you and I will kill you. You stay away from her I mean it or you will pay the price." Ryan said angry and walked away, he could see the fear in Andy's eyes. Ryan didn't talk to anyone about what happened the night before and he didn't know what could happen if Marissa reported Andy to the police, but Ryan did know that he would go after him if he touched Marissa ever again.

During the next two weeks Marissa had noticed Theresa calling Ryan a lot. He would be late picking her up when they'd have plans or when she was at the Cohen's she would call and Ryan would leave her alone for long periods at a time while he would be on the phone with her.

Marissa didn't want to say anything since Theresa may be having his baby but it never failed, Theresa would always interrupt their time together.

"You know what we haven't done in a couple of weeks?" Marissa said crawling on top of Ryan, "I think tonight is the first night in two weeks that we haven't been interrupted."

Ryan smiled and started kissing Marissa. She pulled back and pulled his and her shirt off quickly not wanting to waste a second of their time. Eventually they were in bed, naked about to make love when the phone rang. At first both ignored it but after about 8 rings Ryan pulled away from Marissa to answer the phone.

"Hello?" Ryan answered.

"Ryan it's Theresa, can you come over? I really need you to come over here." Theresa paused, "It's really important. I need you're help."

Ryan could hear that Theresa was crying.

"Yeah I'll be there soon." Ryan said and quickly hung up the phone.

He then jumped out of bed and started to get dressed.

"Ryan?" Marissa said confused, "Where are you going?"

"Theresa's she needs me." Ryan said and quickly left the pool house.

Marissa sat on the bed for a few minutes trying to put everything together. She began getting very angry and hurt that he got up and left the way he did while they were about to make love. She quickly got dressed and left.

Ryan got to Theresa's house and knocked on the door. When there wasn't an answer he turned the doorknob and let himself in.

"Theresa where are you?" Ryan yelled out.

"Ryan, I'm in the bathroom. Come here." Theresa replied, "Hurry!"

Ryan ran into the bathroom and found Theresa on the floor curled up.

"What's wrong?" Ryan asked quickly dropping down beside her.

"I need to go to the hospital, I keep getting sharp pains in my stomach and I can't stand up because they hurt to much." Theresa cried.

"Ok, come on." Ryan helped her up and carried her out to the car.

"How long have you been in pain?" Ryan asked while they drove to the hospital.

"I was having pains all day but they started getting really bad that's why i called you.." Theresa said, "I hope you weren't busy."

"No it's fine, you can call me any time you need anything." Ryan replied.

Ryan quickly took Theresa into the hospital once they got there and the doctor took her in right away.

Ryan sat down in the waiting room. As he waited he realized how he left Marissa and decided to call her and let her know what happened. He decided to try home first.

"Hello?" Seth answered.

"Hey man can you do me a favour?" Ryan asked.

"Sure, what is it?" Seth asked.

"Can you see if Marissa is still in the pool house." Ryan replied.

"If you're not there why would she be there?" Seth wondered.

"We we're there and Theresa called needing my help so I left quickly and didn't really tell Marissa why I was leaving. I was hoping she was still there, can you check for me?" Ryan replied.

"Of course, hold on a second." Seth said walking out to the pool house.

"No, she's not here. What did Theresa need you for?" Seth asked.

"I had to take her to the hospital, she was having sharp pains in her stomach." Ryan said.

"Is she ok?" Seth asked.

"She's in with the doctor now. I'll call her house and see if she's home." Ryan replied, "I'll be home once I find out if Theresa's ok."

"Ok, bye." Seth hung up.

Ryan dialled Marissa's cell phone but no one answered so he decided to call her house.

"Hello?" Julie answered.

"Hi, is Marissa there?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah she came in a while ago, I'll go get her." Julie replied.

Ryan heard Julie walk up the stairs to Marissa's room.

"Maris you're wanted on the phone." Julie called out.

Ryan could hear Marissa ask who it was.

"It's Ryan." Julie replied.

"Tell him I'm not here or I'm busy or something." Marissa replied.

Ryan heard Marissa and listened as Julie told him she was busy.

"Fine." Ryan said and hung the phone up.

Just then Theresa came out of the office and Ryan quickly walked up to her.

"So? Is everything ok?" Ryan asked.

"The doctor did an ultra sound, he couldn't find a heart beat." Theresa cried.

Ryan looked at her in disbelief.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Ryan asked.

"It means I had a miscarriage." Theresa said slowly starting to cry.

Ryan wrapped his arms around her, "Come on, I'll take you home."

"Ryan I don't want to spend the night by myself, can you stay with me?" Theresa asked.

Ryan looked over at her not knowing what to say.

"Sure." Ryan replied.

Once they got to Theresa's apartment, Ryan tucked Theresa into bed and stayed with her till she fell asleep. After he went into the living room to use the phone. First he called home.

"Hello?" Seth answered again.

"Seth it's Ryan." Ryan replied.

"Hey, how is Theresa?" Seth asked.

"She lost the baby," Ryan replied, "She wants me to stay the night with her can you let your parents know?"

"Of course. Are you ok?" Seth questioned.

"I'll be fine." Ryan replied.

"Did you find Marissa? Did you let her know what was going on?" Seth said.

"I called her at home but she wouldn't talk to me." Ryan replied, "But listen I'm going to try her again so I'll be home tomorrow."

Ryan hung the phone up and dialled Marissa's cell.

It rang and rang and rang, Marissa wasn't answering and he didn't want to call her house again since it was late. He was sure she'd talk to him in the morning anyway so he made himself a bed on the couch.

Ryan woke up early and made Theresa something to eat and took it to her in bed.

"Thanks Ryan, it was very good." Theresa smiled.

"How are you feeling today?" Ryan asked.

"Better but sad, I can't believe the baby is gone. Yesterday morning I woke up pregnant and this morning I'm not." Theresa replied

Ryan sat beside her not knowing what to say.

"Last night at the office after the doctor told me I had lost the baby I asked him if it was possible to do a paternity test now that the baby died. He took a DNA sample and if you want to know whether the baby was yours or not you can go in this morning and they'll let us know later this week. If you want to I mean." Theresa suggested.

"Really, well I'd like to know; would you?" Ryan asked.

"Actually I would." Theresa replied.

Theresa went with him to the doctors office and gave his dna sample before driving Theresa to her mothers. Later that morning Ryan headed home. He had tried Marissa again, she hadn't answered her cell and her mother told him Marissa wasn't home.

When Ryan got home, Kirsten and Sandy met him and gave him their sympathy. Ryan then made his way to the pool house and stayed there for the rest of the day. He tried Marissa again a couple more times that day but had not luck.


	6. Chapter 6

Ryan laid in bed thinking about Marissa, Theresa and the baby. He was torn up inside. He knew he wasn't ready to be a father and in some way he was relieved but he still felt sad about the miscarriage. He felt bad for Theresa because she was beginning to be happy about the pregnancy. She wanted the baby for so many reasons.

His thoughts finally got to Marissa. He felt terrible for the past two weeks, he had a weak spot for Theresa; not in a romantic relationship way but in a best friend kind of way. He wished Marissa would call or take one of his calls so he could explain the situation to her, tell her what has happened.

There was a knock on the door and Ryan quickly sat up hoping it was Marissa, unfortunately it was Seth.

"Hey." Ryan said

"Uh, I was at Summer's and Marissa was there, she's pretty mad at you buddy." Seth replied.

"Did you tell her what happened?" Ryan asked.

"No, I really didn't know if it was my place, but I did tell her you needed to speak to her." Seth answered, "She wasn't ready yet though."

"Oh." Ryan said.

""She thinks there's something going on between you and Theresa." Seth stated.

"Really? Where did she get that idea?" Ryan wondered.

"Well, she said that over the last 2 weeks you have done nothing but talk on the phone with Theresa." Seth answered.

"I really screwed up, I need to talk to her." Ryan finished just as Marissa walked in.

Seth gave them both a quick look and left the pool house..

"I'm so glade you came by." Ryan said getting up to kiss her, although she moved away. Ryan gave her a hurt look and returned to the bed to sit down.

"Marissa sit down there's stuff I need to tell you." Ryan said motioning her to sit next to him and she followed.

"I'm really sorry for leaving the way I did yesterday, believe me I never wanted to." Ryan started.

"You wanted to when Theresa called." Marissa said quietly.

"It's not what you think Marissa. Theresa needed me. She needed me to take her to the hospital. She lost the baby." Ryan replied.

"She what?" Marissa replied shocked, "How, what happened?"

"All I know is that she had a miscarriage." Ryan answered.

"Oh, I'm sorry. How is she? How are you?" Marissa asked taking Ryan's hand.

"Sad, relieved, I really don't know how I'm feeling." Ryan replied.

"Give her my sympathy will you?" Marissa asked.

"Marissa I'm sorry for the last 2 weeks. I know I haven't been all that great to you and I'm very sorry. I've been feeling guilty for leaving Theresa when I came back home but I swear that all that has been going on between Theresa and I is me trying to be a good friend to her. I love you, I'd never do anything like that to hurt you." Ryan said.

"Ryan these past 2 weeks you've been distant. You hardly kissed me and when we finally do get close you took off. What did you expect me to think?" Marissa asked.

"Exactly what you did but I promise the only person I want and am with is you." Ryan said and leaned over and kissed Marissa.

"We were offered to take a paternity test at the hospital, I had one take. I want to know who the father was." Ryan said holding Marissa.

"Really, are you nervous?" Marissa asked.

"A little, but I'm hoping its Eddie's. It'll help their relationship out if it was." Ryan replied.

Marissa crawled over Ryan and stratled him.

"Do you think we'll have any interruptions tonight?" Marissa asked.

Ryan reached over and turned the phone off.

"No tonight." Ryan smiled and started kissing her.

Later on that week.

"Hi Ryan its Theresa. The doctor's office called and have the test results for us. We have an appointment on Friday morning at 10:30. Give me a call back. Oh and Eddie will be there as well." The answering machine finished with a beep.

"Wow, in a couple of days we find out whether or not you were about to be a father." Marissa said.

"Yah." Ryan replied distant.

"Ryan are you ok?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah, sure I am" Ryan replied.

"You don't seem ok." Marissa stated.

"Really, I'm ok." Ryan said rubbing the back of his neck..

"Is your neck sore?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah, my neck and back have been killing me today." Ryan moaned, "I must have slept funny."

"Do you want a massage?" Marissa offered, "I have a magical touch you know."

"Really? You wouldn't mind." Ryan replied.

"No of course not, lets go out to the pool house and you can lay down." Marissa smiled taking his hand.

They went out to the pool house and Ryan removed his shirt before he laid down on the bed. Marissa got on his bed and sat on his back and gave him a massage.

After a while Marissa stopped and laid down beside him and realized he was asleep. She felt bad knowing how tired he'd been lately so she got up to leave and let him sleep.

"Where are you going?" Ryan asked sitting up before she walked out the door.

"I was going to go to let you sleep." Marissa replied turning toward him.

"I don't want you to go, come lay down with me." Ryan replied.

"Ryan, I'm not really tired." Marissa confessed.

"Neither am I, come over here with me." Ryan smiled.

Marissa sat down next to him.

"If you're not tired why did you fall asleep?" Marissa asked.

"Your massage was very relaxing, but I don't want to get out of bed just yet." Ryan replied.

"You want me to stay here while you stay in bed all day?" Marissa asked.

"I wanna stay in bed all day with you but I don't want to lay in bed all day." Ryam smiled pulling Marissa down to him.

"Oh I see what you mean now." Marissa laughed and kissed Ryan, "But not to day, I have to meet Summer soon."

"Really?" Ryan replied kissing her, "When?"

"At two." Marissa said in-between kisses.

"What time is it?" Ryan asked pulling her on top of him.

"1:30." Marissa replied.

Ryan and Marissa continued to make out. Eventually Marissa pulled away.

"Ryan I have to go." Marissa said sitting up and Ryan sat up next to her.

"Will you be back later?" Ryan asked.

"Do you want me to come back?" Marissa answered.

"You know I do." Ryan replied.

"I'll be back but it won't be till around 9." Marissa replied.

Ryan leaned in and kissed her. Marissa smiled as she pulled away and stood up.

"See you later, love you." Marissa winked and left.

Marissa knocked on Summer's door and went in.

"Hey Coop." Summer said turning off the tv.

"Ready, I can't wait to get to the spa." Marissa replied.

The girls got to the spa and were relaxing as they soaked in their mud baths.

"So Coop how is everything with you and Chino?" Summer asked.

"Things are actually really good." Marissa replied, "How about you and Seth?"

"Great, Cohen and I were talking earlier and we thought maybe the four of us could go away next weekend." Summer suggested.

"Really? Where did you have in mind?" Marissa asked.

"Well, we didn't come up with that yet. Do you want to go?" Summer replied.

"Yeah definitely I'm sure Ryan will want to go." Marissa agreed.

"Can you believe school starts in just over a month." Summer sighed.

""Yeah I know, but how about we don't mention that!" Marissa replied.

"Ok, why don't we get the guys together tonight and see where they want to go." Summer suggested.

"Great. You heading over to the Cohen's after?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah, you?" Summer asked.

"Me too, so we can go together, I'll drive since Seth normally drives you home any way." Marissa offered.  
Summer and Marissa headed over to meet the guys after they grabbed some supper, it was 8:30 when the arrived.

Kirsten answered the door.

"Hey, girls come on in." Kirsten said.

"Thank." Both girls responded.

"Seth is in the kitchen and Ryan's out in the pool house." Kirsten offered and lead the girls into the kitchen.

"Hey." Seth said.

"Hi. i'm going to get Ryan. Be back in a sec." Marissa said.

Marissa went into the poolhouse and didn't see Ryan.

She heard the shower running so she sat down on the chair to wait for him.. After a couple of minutes Ryan came out.

"Hey I didn't know you were here, you should have said something so I would have been quicked." Ryan approached her and gave her a kiss.

"I didn't mind waiting, you smell good." Marissa replied.

"how was your day?" Ryan asked while putting a pair of socks on.

"Good, your?" Marissa answered.

"Not bad, Seth and I played a few games and then had a dip in the pool." Ryan replied.

"We got to go inisde and see Seth and Sum. Sum and I were talking earlier about the four of us going away. What do you think?" Marissa suggested.

"Sounds good, a while back before I left for Chino Seth and I talked about all of us sailing to Catalina." Ryan replied.

"Reall." Marissa replied shocked.

Ryan nodded and they went into the house looking for the other two.

They eventually found them up in Seth's room, making out.

"This is a change, usually you two walk in on us." Marissa laughed interrupting the two love birds.

Marissa and Ryan found a place to sit in Seth's room.

"So Chino did Coop tell you about our idea?" Summer asked.

"Yeah, it sounds pretty good, where are we gonna take off too?" Ryan asked.

"That's why I brought you up here, so we can decide together." Marissa informed.

"Oh." Ryan stated, "Oh hey man, what about Catalina like we discussed before?"

"Right, before you left. We could sail to Catalina." Seth suggested.

"Live under the stars, catch fish right off the side of the boat!" Ryan smiled.

"You mean no bathroom, which means no shower, yeah OK!" Summer snapped.

"We could sail there in about two or three days, grab a hotel for a couple of nights and sail home." Seth replied.

"How would the four of us sleep on your boat Seth?" Marissa wondered.

"Good question, I don't know." Seth replied.

"Why don't we fly somewhere, sailing is so not the quickest way to get anywhere." Summer suggested.

Seth laughed.

"Somewhere with beaches, blue sparkling water, bars! Lets go to Nassau, I heard it's beautiful." Summer said, "Plus you need only be 16!"

"How are we, how am I supposed to pay for it?" Ryan asked, "It sounds great but not for my budget."

"Ryan don't worry, I'm sure my parents will chip in." Seth replied.

"And my dad keeps hasseling me to go away, I'm sure he'd gladly give me more than enough for the both of us." Marissa said taking Ryan's hand.

"Thanks guys but I can't take your money. You know I think I have about a thousand from the money i saved working. How far will that take us?" Ryan asked squeezing Marissa's hand.

To Nassau!" Summer said happily.

Everyone knew it wasn't quite enough but they all kept quiet, they were headed south.

Seth and Ryan went to talk to Sandy and Kirsten.

"Hey mom you're looking wonderful tonight and dad have you been working out cause you look great!" Seth complimented.

"Ryan what does he want?" Sandy asked.

"Do I have to have a reason to compliment the best parents in the world?" Seth answered.

"You, yes!" Kirsten responded.

"Ok look, Ryan Marissa, Summer and I decided we want to go away for a little while, like a week to Nassau to be more exact, on our best behaviour of course!" seth said.

"Wow the Bahama's! Summer's pick?" Sandy questioned.

"Well yes, but I think we all need it, especially Ryan with everything he'd gone through these past months." Seth said.

"Sleeping arrangements?" Kirsten asked.

"Ryan and Summer, Me and Marissa!" Seth joked, "Of course no co-ed hotel rooms."

"Ok, I'll call my travel agent first think tomorrow." Kirsten agreed.

"Thanks mom!" Seth said and the boys headed back up to Seth's room where the girls were.

"So Kirsten's going to book us tomorrow!" Ryan said resting his hands on Marissa's shoulders.

"Great, I can't believe we're doing this!" Summer said excited.

"It's great, I can't wait to spend an entire week with my favourite people in a beautiful place." Marissa agreed.

The gang of friends spent another hour discussing their trip, they couldn't wait to see where they were staying.

Friday

Ryaqn's phone rang as he was getting dressed.

"Hello?" Ryan answered.

"Hey." Marissa said.

"Hey," Ryan replied confuseed, "What's going on?"

"Well you have your appointment today and I was wondering if you wanted me to come with you for support?" Marissa said.

"Actually I really would like that, thanks!" Ryan replied.

"I'm always there for you!" Marissa stated, "When are you leaving?"

"In about 30 minutes, will you be ready?" Ryan asked.

"Yup, just honk when you get here." Marissa replied.

"Ok see you soon." Ryan hung up the phone.

Ryan was pretty quiet during the drive to the appointment and Marissa respected that. The reason she was there was to offer support to hime after anyways.

Marissa waited in the waiting room. After about 15 minutes the three returned but Marissa couldn't tell by their faces who the father was.

Marissa stood up to greet them.

"Hey Marissa." Theresa said and gave her a hug, "Thank you for everything you did for me while I was in Newport, especially for being a great friend."

"It was my pleasure." Marissa smiled.

"So we'll talk soon Ryan?" Theresa said.

"Yes, of course." Ryan replied as Theresa and Eddie were about to leave.

"See ya man." Eddie said as they walked away, "Bye Marissa."

"Take care." Ryan replied and finally looked Marissa in the eye and she knew exactly what the results were.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Marissa asked.

"Not really, let's go home and pack for our trip tomorrow!" Ryan said putting his arm around her.

Marissa nodded and they walked out to the car and drove home.

They were greeted by Sandy, Kirsten, Seth and Summer when they walked into the Cohen's.

"You're back so what are the results?" Seth asked.

Marissa sat down and waited for Ryan to finally speak.

The baby was, um, it was Eddie's. I'm happy, Theresa and Eddie seem to be doing good now and it will probably help them out knowing it was Eddie's." Ryan replied and sat next to Marissa.

"Well," Sandy said, "Are you two hungry?"

"I'm starved!" Marissa replied.

"So am I!" Ryan replied and Kirsten brought them over two plates full of a hot breakfast.


	7. Chapter 7

"OMG I can't wait! I can't wait to wear my new bikini, it's like so hot!" Summer said.

Seth smiled, "And I can't wait to see it!"

"How about you two, you deserve this trip!" Kirsten looked at Marissa and Ryan.

"I can't wait to hang out and remember I'm only 17. I just want to go back to being me." Marissa sighed, "I know this trip is going to be great."

"Yeah it is, plus we do need it." Ryan agreed.

The next day Sandy drove everyone to the airport. Everyone was so excited.

"Call us and your parents when you get to the hotel, give us your number and have a great time." sandy said to everyone.

"We will, I love you and don't call us too often, OK?" Seth said walking away.

"We'll try; I love you and see you all in a week." Sandy waved.

Their flight wasn't leaving for another 2 hours so they checked in and went to grab breakfast.

"How long is our flight?" Ryan asked.

"13 hours, we stop in Miami for 30 minutes. We don't get there till 8:30 tonight." Marissa replied.

"Wait, 13 hours up in the air, above ground, um." Ryan mumbled.

"You won't even know you're thousands of feet above ground." Seth said.

Ryan chocked on his bagel at the sound out thousands of feet above ground.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty good with taking you mind off it, remember?" Marissa whispered into his ear.

Ryan smiled, "You ready for a 13 hours make out session?"

"With you? Of course!" Marissa smiled.

"Are we going to lay low tonight or hit the disco?" Summer asked.

"I don't know, it depends on how we're feeling once we get there." Marissa responded.

"I hope the food is good." Seth said.

"We're headed to paradise Cohen, and all you can think about it whether the food will be good." Summer snapped.

"Ryan did that thought cross your mind because the odds are every guy thinks about that." Seth questioned.

"Your right, he's right Summer." Ryan confirmed.

"See!" Seth exclaimed.

"I hope we have a joining room but probably not." Marissa said.

"What are the rooms like anyway?" Ryan replied.

"Actually the resort contacted my mom yesterday and they had their rooms overbooked so we are sharing a suite." Seth said.

"A suite?" Ryan asked.

"There are 2 bedrooms, a little living room, a bathroom and a mini kitchen." Seth replied.

"That's cool; we should head to the gate our flight boards soon." Marissa said.

15 minutes later they were boarded and about to take off.

"Are you ok?" Marissa asked.

"Um, for now." Ryan replied biting his lip.

Marissa squeezed his thigh and smiled at him.

"I can't wait to spend 7 entire nights sharing a bed with you." Marissa said and leaned over to kiss him.

"What are you talking about? I'm sharing a room with Seth." Ryan smiled.

"Oh you are? You two going to share a bed and cuddle all-night long?" Marissa teased.

"Well I thought it would be more fun to meet in the middle of the night for some fooling around time." Ryan joked.

"Or share a room and we can fool around whenever we want or even all night long." Marissa said running her hand up his leg.

"You're right! I guess I'll share a room with you." Ryan laughed.

"You better watch it buddy!" Marissa smiled and kissed him. When they finished kissing the captain came on saying they were reaching the desired altitude and would land in Miami on time.

"We already too off?" Ryan questioned.

"Yeah, see it's not that bad." Marissa laughed.

Seth's head popped up in front of them.

"Hey man, how was your first take off?" Seth asked.

"Didn't even know we had taken off, so it was pretty uneventful." Seth replied.

"Yeah it was pretty calm, Summer fell asleep awhile ago. I think I'm going to go to sleep too. See you two in a while." Seth said and his head disappeared.

Marissa and Ryan laughed quietly and both decided to follow their friends.

13 hours later they arrived in Nassau and hour later they were in their suite.

"This place is gorgeous, it's huge!" Summer said.

"Is anyone up to going out or should we stay and relax tonight?" Seth asked.

"Relax and stay in." Ryan said.

"I'm in for that too, and then we can get an early rise tomorrow." Seth replied.

"I'm not getting up too early though." Summer said.

"Well breakfast is over at 10:30, I need my breakfast." Marissa replied.

"Jus call us and we'll let you know if we're going." Seth responded.

Everyone said good night and headed to bed.

"So Summer we've never really spend the night together before." Seth said crawling into bed next to Summer.

"Yes we did, on our way to TJ." Summer corrected.

"That doesn't count, you threatened if I made a move on you you'd rip my jugular our." Seth said.

Summer laughed.

"So I'm not going to make a move just in case." Seth said lying down.

"Cohen we're in the Bahamas together, if you don't make a move you'll be sorry." Summer demanded.

Seth smiled and pulled her down and they started kissing.

"Ryan how was your first experience on an airplane?" Marissa asked as they cuddled on the bed.

"It was bearable, you helped out a lot." Ryan said as he kissed her.

"Oh you guys forgot to call Sandy and Kirsten; you probably should give them a call." Marissa said pulling away but really not wanting too stop what they were starting.

Ryan sat still cuddling Marissa as he called and let the Cohen's know every thing was fine.

Immediately after he hung the phone up, Marissa and Ryan started making out again.

Ryan woke up fairly early; he wasn't used to going to bed at such an early hour. He rolled over and looked at the clock.

"Oh man, 7 am." Ryan whispered to himself and looked over at the window, which made him curious to see what was outside his window.

Ryan reached down and picked his shorts up and slid them on while making his way over to the window. He opened the blinds and was stunned by what he saw.

He starred out into the gorgeous blue and green sea, the sun shined down onto the white sand and the palm trees that lined the beach. Ryan couldn't believe how beautiful it was here. He looked over in the opposite direction and saw the huge pool which really looked like a hidden large pond with waterfalls. Ryan just starred out, feeling better than he had felt in a long time.

As he continued staring out he felt Marissa's arms slid around his waist, he smiled and looked over at her.

"She's just as beautiful." He thought to himself as he leaned in to kiss her.

"You're up pretty early." She smiled and cuddled into him.

"Well we went to sleep early and you did want to go down for breakfast didn't you?" Ryan replied.

"We have lots of time for that; I have something else in mind that we didn't get to last night." Marissa winked at Ryan.

He smiled knowing exactly what she was thinking and lead her over to the bed. After Ryan and Marissa jumped into the shower together, something that neither of them did before, thinking it would be quicker. They were both wrong, after and hour of getting "distracted by each other" they were interrupted by Summer banging on the door.

"I have to use the bathroom guys, will you please hurry up." Summer yelled while she banged on the door.

A few minutes later Marissa and Ryan opened the door and let the very pissed over Summer in.

"This better not happen every morning." Summer groaned to herself.

"She's not a morning person is she?" Ryan asked Marissa when they got to their room.

"No she's not but don't worry she won't be pissed off once she wakes up." Marissa replied.

Marissa searched through her suitcase and through on some clothes, as did Ryan. Once they were dressed the couple went out into the living room where Summer was sitting sipping a cup of coffee.

"Sorry guys about my little grumpy moment but you know how I am Coop." Summer apologised.

"It's really no problem; we really shouldn't have been in the bathroom for so long." Ryan smiled and sat down on a chair. Marissa sat down next to Summer.

"Are you guys going to come down for breakfast?" Marissa asked.

"I'm not hungry but Seth might be, you can go ask him." Summer replied.

"I'll go ask him." Ryan said getting up and headed towards Summer and Seth's room.

Ryan walked in and Seth was curled up still asleep. Ryan picked up a pillow and tossed it at him.

"Hey man wake up." Ryan said.

"What is it, I'm sleeping." Seth moaned rolling over to cover his eyes.

"Marissa and I are going for breakfast, you want to come?" Ryan asked.

"No I just want to sleep." Seth complained.

"Why are you so tired, you went to bed early?" Ryan smiled knowing the reason why he was so tired.

"Summer was like super woman last night, you should have seen her, she couldn't get enough of me." Seth said smiling to himself.

"Enough said." Ryan laughed and left the room.

While Ryan was in with Seth, Marissa and Summer were talking.

"Coop, last night was unbelievable! Cohen was great." Summer said happily.

"Really, I'm happy for you." Marissa replied not knowing what else to say.

"So how was your night Coop?" Summer asked.

"Actually we went to sleep early." Marissa replied, "But this morning was amazing. I think it's better first thing in the morning!!"

"Maybe Cohen and I should try it, is that why you two were in the shower so long?" Summer teased.

"Well, I guess. Round two I guess." Marissa replied feeling a little uneasy talking about it. Just as she stopped talking Ryan came out.

"He's too tired, long night I was told." Ryan smiled.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to head back to bed too." Summer replied, "Are you guys coming back up here after you eat?"

"I don't know, I was thinking we'd take a walk around. See what this resort has to offer. Oh, at 11:30 we're supposed to go to an information session or something. Maybe we'll take a look at that and meet you guys later." Ryan said

"Ok, I'm off to bed." Summer said leaving Ryan and Marissa.

Summer went back into her room and jumped on the bed, Seth moaned.

"Cohen, wake up! I want to have sex." Summer blurted out.

"Now Summer, I'm sleeping." Seth said opening his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired too. But when we wake up, we're having sex." Summer said crawling under the sheets next to Seth.

"Ok sweetie." Seth said wrapping his arm around Summer and closing his eyes again.

Ryan and Marissa ate a nice breakfast and then took off for a walk. It was 10:35, so they had just under an hour before their information meeting. They walked to the pool, down to the beach and back up around the hotel and found where they were supposed to meet for the info session.

"This place is beautiful." Marissa said as they sat down at a table waiting for the meeting to start.

"It's unbelievable." Ryan replied.

"I'm really glade we're here together, Ryan I love you so much." Marissa said taking his hand.

Ryan looked up at her; he couldn't believe how he felt for her. He never once gave a second thought about a girl he was with. He'd used to meet girls then sleep with them and hardly ever see them again. Mind you, he didn't have hundreds of partners nor did he have more than a handful but he never once felt a shred of what he felt for Marissa for either one of them. Obviously, Theresa was an exception. Theresa was his best friend, his childhood friend who at times would take there friendship to the next level. He loved Theresa but it was definitely not the same kind of love he felt for Marissa.

"I love you too." Ryan smiled and kissed her.

The info session started not long after they stopped kissing. They were told about the resort, about additional activities available and a bunch of other stuff. When the session was over Marissa took off to use the bathroom and Ryan decided to surprise her with an excursion.

"I was hoping I could book the private island visit thing you were talking about." Ryan asked.

"Of course, when did you want to go?" She asked.

"Um, Friday. What exactly is it? Do you get the island all to yourself? You said there was lunch included?" Ryan asked.

"Well, you book the island for half a day, either from 8 till 2 or 3 till 9; you get the island exclusively for you and whoever you bring. We provide either lunch or supper, depending on if you go in the morning or afternoon. We drop you off, their is a small cabin and a very private beach. We come back with the meal and return to pick you up." She replied.

"Wow, I definitely want to book it. Friday afternoon." Ryan smiled.

Marissa returned just after he finished with the rep and they headed back to the hotel to meet up with Seth and Summer.


	8. Chapter 8

Ryan and Marissa unlocked the hotel room door and went inside their suite.

"Listen." Marissa smiled

"What is it?" Ryan asked and they both stood in silence.

They looked at each other and smiled. They were hearing Summer and Seth through the bedroom walls.

"Seems like they have the right idea." Ryan smiled gently pinning Marissa against the wall, kissing her.

"As much as I love it, we can't spend our entire trip in the bedroom." Marissa said trying to resist the urge.

"You're right but what are we going to do about our rabbit like friends?" Ryan joked.

"This!" Marissa replied and opened Seth and Summer's room door, where they immediately stopped what they were doing to cover up. "Listen if you two don't get the hell out of bed and get ready to go out Ryan and I won't have anything to do with either of you for the rest of the trip."

"Fine, close the door. We'll get going." Summer replied.

Marissa smiled and closed the door and made her way into her room. Ryan was lying on the bed.

"Maybe we're better off without them." Ryan said.

"What do you mean?" Marissa asked sitting next to him.

"I mean they're a bad influence on us." Ryan laughed and pulled Marissa into him.

"Are they really?" Marissa laughed as Ryan kissed her neck.

"Would we make out this much if they weren't influencing us?" Ryan asked.

"Um, yeah." Marissa replied, "What do we do better?"

"Your right and we can't ignore what we're great at doing." Ryan said trying to untie Marissa's bikini top.

"Ryan!" Marissa said stopping him.

"Ok fine, what else are we good at besides this." Ryan asked sitting up.

"Fighting." Marissa replied.

"Fighting? About what?" Ryan asked.

"Uh, Oliver or Theresa or Luke." Marissa said.

"Oliver's not around any more and we worked out the whole Theresa thing. And we haven't fought about Luke since you and he broke up. What is there to fight about now?" Ryan asked.

"Personally Ryan, I don't want there to be anything for us to fight about." Marissa replied.

"Neither do I." Ryan said giving her a kiss.

"HELLO!" Summer said loudly.

"Hi Summer." Marissa said pulling away from Ryan's lips. "Are you guys ready to go?"

"Sure whenever you two are finished your lip lock session." Summer said, "Anyways don't I look hot?"

Ryan just awkwardly laughed

"Come on! Let's hit the beach!" Summer said excitedly.

The week flew by; everyone was having so much fun. Thursday night after a hot night out everyone got back really late, feeling good after having a few drinks.

"I can't believe tomorrow is our last full day here." Marissa complained, "Let's do something really memorable."

"Believe me, you guys will be." Seth hinted.

"What?" Marissa asked, "Why did you say that?"

"Sorry man." Seth said.

"Well I have something planned for us tomorrow. But don't ask what, you're just going to have to wait." Ryan said.

"That is so sweet Chino, Cohen what about me?" Summer whined.

"Actually Summer there is something I have planned for us." Seth replied.

"Tell me, Cohen please." Summer begged.

"I involves, wait never mind. You're just going to have to wait. But it doesn't have anything to do with what Ryan has planned for him and Marissa." Seth answered.

After a little more chat everyone went to bed.

"Cohen, what time do you have our date planned for?" Summer moaned looking over at the clock which said 11:10.

"Not till six, why what time is it?" Seth yawned.

"Ten after eleven, should we get up? I think we should." Summer sat up.

'Yeah, do you want to get a shower or should I got get one." Seth asked sitting up as well.

"You go; I'll get one before our date tonight." Summer smiled.

Seth grabbed his stuff and headed to the bathroom and noticed Ryan and Marissa's door partially open. He peeked in and found them fast asleep.

"Wake up sleep heads. Don't you know what time it is?" Seth said sort of quietly.

Ryan rolled over, "What time is it?"

"Quarter after eleven." Seth replied and continued to the bathroom.

Ryan looked over at Marissa who was still asleep, he kissed her and got up and left the room.

As he passed Summer's room she called him in.

"Chino, what are you and Marissa doing today?" Summer asked.

"We're going out to a private island this afternoon." Ryan replied.

"Really that is so sweet Ryan. What does Cohen have planned?" Summer asked.

"I'm not telling you, Seth would kill me." Ryan replied.

"You can beat his a$$ Chino." Summer smirked.

"Yeah but I'm still not telling you." Ryan replied.

"Please Chino." Summer begged.

"Sorry Summer." Ryan said, "But I will tell you that you're going to love it."

"Tell me and I'll be the judge of that." Summer said.

"Look Summer, you're going to love it. But that is all I'm going to say." Ryan replied as Marissa walked in and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Coop convinces your boyfriend that I need to know where Cohen is taking me." Summer said sitting up.

"Sorry Sum, but when Ryan has his mind set it's set." Marissa answered.

Ryan looked up at Marissa and smiled at her.

"God you two are like a married couple." Summer gagged.

"What are you talking about Sum?" Marissa asked.

"Look at you two, you're all lovey dovey. It's disgusting." Summer said.

"You're just bitter cause Ryan won't tell you where Seth is taking you." Marissa laughed.

Seth walked in, "Shouldn't you two be getting ready for your date?" Seth asked.

"Yeah soon," Ryan replied, "But your girlfriend here is trying to convince me to tell her what you guys are doing tonight."

"She's a curious one isn't she?" Seth joked wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm going to go get a shower." Marissa said.

"Ok, we'll get ready and all go out for lunch before we head out on our date." Ryan said.

Seth, Summer, Marissa and Ryan went for lunch together and at 2:30 Ryan and Marissa walked down to the beach.

A man greeted them with a drink and helped the into the boat.

"Where are we going?" Marissa asked cuddling into Ryan.

"You'll see." Ryan replied.

After 1/2 hour on the boat they pulled up to a beautiful beach with a long dock, powdered white sand and a small glass cabin; all surrounded by what looked like a jungle.

"Wow, this place is so beautiful." Marissa admired.

They got out and the driver left. Marissa and Ryan spent the next couple hours swimming, kissing and making out on the beach. Around six, their driver returned with a wonderful dinner. The driver told them he'd be back later that night to return them back to their hotel.

Just as Summer finished getting ready the phone rang and Seth picked it up.

"Mr. Cohen your carriage is waiting for you and your girlfriend out front." The receptionist said.

"Thank you, we'll be down right away." Seth replied and hung the phone up.

"Our ride awaits Ms. Roberts." Seth said reaching out for her hand.

Summer smiled and followed Seth out the door. They reached the hotel entrance and Summer gasped.

"OMG Cohen, you got us a horse drawn carriage. That is like so cool." Summer said excited.

Seth helped Summer up and they headed for their restaurant.

Back at the private island.

After they finished dinner, Ryan too Marissa up to the cabin. It was filled with candles and a bed covered in flower petals. Ryan walked over and turned on some quiet music.

"This is incredible. You're incredible." Marissa said wrapping her arms around Ryan.

"This is all because you deserve it." Ryan said and he kissed her, "What do you want to do now?"

"Actually a massage would be amazing." Marissa asked.

"Ok, come over here." Ryan took Marissa over to the bed.

Marissa lay down on her stomach, Ryan untied her bikini top and started rubbing her back softly and eventually started to massage it.

"Wow Ryan, you're really good at this." Marissa complimented.

Ryan smiled and continued. As he massaged her back he remembered the first time he knocked on her door. She answered it wearing her cotillion dress; he helped her fasten the straps in the back. That was when he realized how much he was falling for her. Now over a year later, he was still falling for her.

He leaned down and kissed the back of her neck the way he wanted to over a year ago. Marissa moaned softly and Ryan continued kissing her. Eventually Marissa rolled over. Ryan looked down at her and they smiled at each other.

After a very formal and romantic dinner, Seth and Summer returned to the carriage.

"Where to now Cohen?" Summer asked cuddling into him.

"Well we're taking a ride into town which will take about 45 minutes, and then I have one more surprise for you." Seth replied.

"A surprise." Summer smiled

"But first this." Seth said and kissed her.

45 minutes later Seth helped Summer out of the carriage.

"So can you tell me what we're doing now?" Summer asked.

"Well it includes credit cards and stores; can you guess what we're doing?" Seth joked.

"You going to take me shopping, you hate shopping." Summer said.

"I hate shopping yeah but I love you and you love shopping. So it's worth it." Seth replied.

"Wow this is like so cool." Summer wrapped her arms around Seth and then took his hand and headed to the first store.

Ryan traced his fingers along Marissa's tan line, kissing her every so often. Marissa ran her hands across Ryan's back. They both reached out for each others hand, when they found each other they clenched on as they kissed. After a few minutes Ryan pulled away and starred at Marissa.

"What?" Marissa laughed.

"Unfortunately we have to stop." Ryan mumbled.

"What? Why?" Marissa asked surprised.

"Uh, I um forgot to bring umm protection with me." Ryan said still mumbling.

"Really? Ryan......" Marissa sighed.

Ryan laid down next to Marissa.

"What do we do now?" Marissa asked.

"What ever you want to do." Ryan replied, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. There's other stuff we can do besides." Marissa said getting on top of Ryan.

"That there is." Ryan agreed.

Ryan and Marissa left their island happy and fulfilled. They cuddled the entire boat ride back, Marissa even fell asleep. They both were exhausted and went right to bed once they got back to their suite.

Seth and Summer shopped until the stores closed at 10 and took the carriage back to the hotel. They walked into the hotel and realized that Marissa and Ryan were already asleep. They quietly made their way to their room and immediately started fooling around.

"Cohen." Summer said pulling away for a moment, "That was the best date ever."

The next day the gang relaxed, packed and headed home.

Unfortunately, no one knew what they were headed home too.

Sandy picked the group up at the airport.

"Hey guys. How was your trip? You all look great." Sandy said as he greeted each one with a hug.

"Dad hey, our trip was crazy. All the woman, booze and drugs, well men in the ladies case." Seth joked.

"As long as you had fun." Sandy replied, "Ryan how was the Bahamas for you?"

"Great, really great." Ryan answered and looked over at Marissa. She smiled at him and he knew she was thinking about their day on the island.

"Good to hear." Sandy replied.

"How is everything here at home?" Marissa asked.

Sandy paused for a second, "Everything appears to be ok."

"Oh." Marissa said.

Sandy dropped Summer off, then Marissa and then arrived at home.

Kirsten greeted them with two big hugs as they walked in. Ryan brought his stuff out to the pool house and returned inside with gifts for Kirsten and Sandy.

"Uh, Marissa wanted to go shopping one day. She helped me pick this stuff out, if you don't like it blame her." Ryan laughed and passed Kirsten a beautiful hand-made quilt and a bottle of Bahamian wine; he passed Sandy a pair of surfing shorts and a bottle of Bahamian liquor.

"My god Ryan, you didn't have to bring us home anything. But thank you, I love it." Kirsten said and gave Ryan another hug.

"Yeah but these shorts are pretty cool." Sandy said and gave Ryan a quick handshake.

"Hey I brought you guys home something too." Seth said and passes them a t-shirt each.

"Ah, thank you sweetie." Kirsten said and gave her son a hug.

"Wow, it's like Chrismakah here today." Sandy joked and gave his son a hug as well.

"I think I'm going to go to bed, I thought I'd sleep on the plane but it didn't work out." Ryan said and turned to head to the pool house.

"Boys, the Nana is flying in today. We're planning a dinner tonight to welcome her here, so you two invite Summer and Marissa. They left a good impression with her last time." Sandy said.

"Ok great." Ryan said and went out to the pool house.

"Wait, why is the Nana coming back? Is she ok? Is she getting better or worse?" Seth questioned.

"Actually we don't know. She just called yesterday and informed us she was flying in today." Sandy answered.

"I hope nothing is wrong." Seth replied.

"I'm sure everything is ok sweetie." Kirsten said, "Why don't you go back to bed, you look tired as well."

"Sure mom." Seth replied.

"I'll call Summer for you." Kirsten smiled at him and he left the room.

"I wonder if Julie talked to Marissa yet about my father." Kirsten said giving Sandy a hug.

"I don't know but if she makes Marissa move with her, Ryan will be devasted." Sandy replied.

"I can't believe Julie and my father are moving away. My father has lived in Newport ever since he started working. I can't imagine him anywhere else but here." Kirsten said.

"But he's doing it for you." Sandy replied, "That is very self-less, not like him at all."

"I know, I'm going to give Marissa a call and invite her over for supper tonight." Kirsten said and picked the phone up.

"Hello?" Julie answered.

"Julie, hi it's Kirsten."

"Kirsten hi, I was just talking to Marissa." Julie said.

"Really, how is she taking the news?" Kirsten asked.

"Not well, she doesn't want to move away." Julie said, "She wants to move in with her father and stay here in Newport."

"That's not that surprising is it?" Kirsten asked.

"Well, I figured since she moved in with us on her own she might have wanted to move again with us." Julie replied.

"So what are you going to do? Make her move or let her stay?" Kirsten asked.

"I'd really like her to move with us." Julie said.

"Oh I see, well Sandy's mother is coming into town. Last time she was here Marissa left a pretty good impression with her and she wanted me to invite Marissa over tonight for dinner." Kirsten said.

"Kirsten, Marissa just got home." Julie said surprised.

"I know but last time she was here she told us she had cancer, we don't know if she is going to die soon and we just wanted to make her happy." Kirsten replied.

"Well I guess its ok with me; I'll get Marissa for you." Julie said and called out to her daughter.

"Hello?" Marissa answered.

"Hi Marissa, its Kirsten. How are you?"

"Not good." Marissa replied, "Oh how did you and Sandy like the gifts Ryan brought home for you?"

"They were wonderful. He told us you helped pick them out so thank you." Kirsten responded.

"Of course." Marissa said.

"Um, the Nana is coming tonight and we have a dinner planned for her. We and the Nana were hoping you would like to join us." Kirsten asked.

"Yes of course, I'd love to." Marissa replied.

"Great, dinner is at 7 but I'm sure you'll be here well before that." Kirsten replied.

"Yup, thanks for inviting me and I'll see you later." Marissa said and hung the phone up

"So did Julie talk to her?" Sandy asked.

"Yes and I think Julie is trying to force her to move away with them." Kirsten replied.

"Really, can't she live with Jimmy? I'm sure Marissa would like that a whole lot better." Sandy said.

"She would but you know the way my father and Julie gets." Kirsten sighed, "Ryan is going to hate the sounds of this. I got to call Summer and invite her."


	9. Chapter 9

Marissa arrived at the Cohen's around 3 and knocked on the front door and Sandy answered.

"Hey Marissa, come on in." Sandy said.

"Thanks, is Ryan home?" Marissa asked.

"Of course, he's out back." Sandy said, "I heard about the move, I'm sorry."

"Oh thanks." Marissa replied and headed out to the pool house.

Ryan was pulling on a shirt when she walked in.

"Hey." Marissa sighed.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ryan asked.

"Why does something look like there is something wrong with me?" Marissa asked sitting down.

"Yes." Ryan replied sitting next to her.

"You're right but I don't think you want to hear what I have to say." Marissa replied.

Ryan swallowed, "You can tell me anything, and you know that."

"Caleb owes a lot of money out to people and the only way he can pay them back is if he sells the house and leaves Newport for good." Marissa started.

"Wow the richest person in Newport can afford to live in Newport any longer." Ryan said not truly understanding what she was telling him.

"My mom and Caleb are moving across the country and my mom has put it in her mind that I'm going with them." Marissa said almost crying.

"Wait, you're moving with them? You can't." Ryan replied.

"I don't want to but their not really giving me a choice." Marissa said crying now.

"Isn't there something we can do, why can't you live with your father?" Ryan asked hugging her.

"Believe me I'd rather live with my father then those two. Ryan I don't want to leave Newport, I don't want to leave you." Marissa cried into his shoulder.

Kirsten and Sandy walked in while she was crying.

"Marissa, do you mind if we come in for a few minutes to talk?" Kirsten asked.

"Yeah sure come in." Marissa said trying to hide she had been crying.

"Ryan can we have a second with Marissa alone?" Kirsten asked.

"Yeah, sure I'll b..." Ryan started but Marissa cut him off.

"I'd really like for him to stay." Marissa responded.

Ryan looked at Kirsten and Sandy for approval. They both smiled and nodded.

"Marissa when you moved back with your mom after the wedding, were you pressured in anyway?" Kirsten asked.

Marissa wasn't sure what she could or couldn't tell Kirsten. She just starred down at the floor avoiding any eye contact with the Cohen's.

"Marissa it is ok, you can tell me anything. Don't worry." Kirsten continued when she sensed Marissa was afraid to talk.

"Kirsten, I don't think I can tell you why I moved in with my mom and Caleb." Marissa said. Ryan looked over at her and put his hand on hers.

"Why not sweetie?" Kirsten asked.

"Because it has to do with your father and I made a promise that I wouldn't tell anyone." Marissa replied.

"Did you tell Ryan?" Sandy asked.

"Yeah." Marissa replied.

"Well what if we asked Ryan? Then you won't be telling us, Ryan will just be telling his guardians what we asked him to tell us." Sandy suggested.

Marissa looked over at Ryan, she saw the pain in his eyes and knew that she had to let Kirsten and Sandy know or she'd have to leave Ryan forever.

"If Ryan doesn't mind telling you than I'm ok with that." Marissa agreed.

"Ryan?" Sandy said.

"Caleb told Marissa if she didn't move in with them after the wedding he'd revoke his offer to buy the restaurant. Marissa didn't want you and her father to loose out on all that money so she agreed to move in if he'd buy the restaurant." Ryan said.

"I knew it." Sandy said.

"I can't believe he would do something like this." Kirsten responded, "Honey is he doing the same thing now that they are moving away?"

"He hasn't said anything but I don't know what he'd do. I don't want to see my father broke any more, he's finally getting his life back together." Marissa said almost crying again.

"Marissa doesn't worry about my father. You should talk to your dad and if you don't want to move you won't have to sweetie, I promise." Kirsten said giving Marissa a hug.

"Really? How are you going to, never mind I don't want to know. All that matters is that I get to stay here with everyone." Marissa smiled and looked over at Ryan.

Sandy and Kirsten left, Kirsten was very angry with her father.

"Are you going to pay him a visit?" Sandy asked.

"Not tonight, you're mother is coming but I will be going to see him first thing tomorrow morning. I can't believe he'd force a young girl to choose between her happiness and her fathers." Kirsten said in disgust.

"Well I'm not that surprised, you're father is a monster." Sandy replied.

"Come on; let's go get your mother's room ready for her. Luckily Hailey is gone for awhile because we'd have no place to put your mother." Kirsten said.

"We could have sent Seth out to the pool house with Ryan and gave mom Seth's room." Sandy replied.

"Yeah well luckily we don't have to; you know for a big house we don't really have many bedrooms. We have 3 Sandy, only three." Kirsten said.

"We could build on, add some more rooms and maybe bring Ryan into the house finally." Sandy suggested.

"You know I think I may consider that idea. But Ryan, I think he likes it out in the pool house." Kirsten said.

"Maybe but we could always talk to him about it; see what he wants." Sandy suggested.

"You're full of ideas today aren't you?" Kirsten said kissing her husband.

Summer showed up around 5:30 and met Seth up in his room.

"So where's the Nana? How is she doing?" Summer asked.

"Dad hasn't got back from picking her up yet." Seth answered.

"Still tired?" Summer asked, "Cause you do like to sleep."

"And you don't?" Seth replied giving her a quick kiss.

"No I like my sleep too." Summer replied, "Is Coop here?"

"Yeah I think something is going on with her. She's been here for awhile and my parents were out talking with her and Ryan." Seth replied.

"Really, I wonder what's up." Summer said, "Let's go find out."

"Do we really want to be that nosey?" Seth asked.

"Cohen, she's my best friend. If something is going on with her, I want to know about it." Summer replied.

"Fine, they're out in the pool house." Seth said and followed Summer out of his room.

When they reached the pool house, Marissa and Ryan were lying down together on the bed.

"Hey guys, is everything ok? Marissa are you feeling ok cause you look a little pale." Summer said.

"I do?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah you look a little sick, actually you do too Chino." Summer replied.

"We're ok Summer, no one is sick." Ryan said.

"Ok so what has the two of you so bummed?" Summer asked.

"My mom and Caleb." Marissa sighed and sat up.

"Really what's up with that?" Summer asked.

Seth and Summer sat down to talk with Ryan and Marissa.

"My mom and Caleb are moving away from Newport, actually they're moving out east." Marissa replied.

"Wow I wonder why my grandfather wants to move away." Seth replied.

"Ok Coop, you don't want to live with your mother anyway. Now you can move in with your father right?" Summer said.

"Well they want me to move with them." Marissa replied quietly.

"No way Coop, you're not leaving me. You're not going right?" Summer replied.

"I don't know if I have a choice." Marissa said.

"Kirsten and Sandy are trying to help out; hopefully they can work everything out." Ryan stated.

"Of course, my parents will work it all out. Don't worry Marissa cause you're not going anywhere." Seth said.

"I hope you're right but I'm not getting my hopes up." Marissa replied.

"You two are cursed." Seth suggested.

"What do you mean Seth?" Ryan asked.

"Every time you guys get your relationship all worked out something always happens to mess it all up again. Remember the whole Luke think, then Oliver, then Theresa, then Theresa again and now this." Seth replied.

"Thanks that really helps." Ryan said.

"Well maybe we're making a mountain out of mohill her." Summer suggested, "I say everything will work out, just wait and see."

"I really hope you're right Sum, cause I don't want to leave you guys." Marissa said looking at Ryan.

Just then Ryan noticed Sandy home.

"Looks like the Nana just arrived." Ryan said.

"Let's go see the Nana." Summer suggested and everyone followed her and Seth into the house.

"Nana!" Seth said as he walked into the house.

"Seth, how's my grandson doing?" The nana said hugging Seth.

"You're looking really good Nana." Summer said.

"Thank you dear, I'm glade to see Seth hasn't ruined the relationship yet."

"No yet." Summer laughed and hugged Nana.

"You remember Ryan and his girlfriend Marissa?" Kirsten asked.

"Of course I remember my new grandson." She smiled and has him and Marissa a hug.

Ryan felt a whole new sense about living with the Cohen's; he now didn't just feel like part of the family but as Kirsten and Sandy's son.

Everyone noticed Ryan's reaction and nobody could hide their smiles.

"Well Nana, twice in the last 6 months." Seth said hugging her again.

"Yeah, I wanted to see you all in person. I have news." She replied.

"Ok, we're all here so what is it?" Sandy asked his mother.

"No No, let's eat first." The Nana said.

Everyone agreed. Kirsten and Sandy went to pick up the food. The nana stayed with the kids. They discussed the past few months and ended with their trip. Sandy and Kirsten returned home not long after and everyone sat down to eat.

After supper, over dessert the Nana began talking.

"I was hoping everyone could come to New York for a weekend. The last weekend in August to be more precise." The Nana said.

"Why, what's happening then?" Seth asked.

"My wedding." She answered.

"Pardon me?" Sandy choked.

"You heard me, I'm getting married." She repeated.

"Why? Who?" Kirsten managed to ask.

"Well his name is Phil Dumphry, you should remember him Sanford. We've been romantically involved for awhile now but none of our children knew about it until now. I want to marry him before I die and that time is coming sooner rather than later." She stated.

"Wow, congratulations." Ryan replied.

"Thank you Ryan." The Nana smiled.

"Is he pushing you into this mom?" Sandy asked.

"OF course not, if anyone is pushing anyone it's me pushing Phil into it." The nana laughed.

"Wow my nana has a boyfriend." Seth laughed.

"So Sanford will you be at my wedding?" Nana asked, "Cause I'll like for you to give me away."

"Of course mom, we'll all be there." Sandy replied and kissed his mother.

"Great, you're all going to meet him. I asked him to come over around 8." She smiled.

"He's here in California?" Kirsten asked.

"He has a daughter in LA." The nana replied.

Just then the phone rang and Kirsten got up to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Kirsten its Julie, is Marissa there?"

"Yes she it, Sandy's mother is here and we had dinner with her." Kirsten replied.

"Oh." Julie said.

"She asked for Marissa and Summer to join us. They left a good impression on her last time."

"So Marissa won't be home for a while?" Julie asked disappointed.

"Probably not, you know her and Ryan. Is everything ok?" Kirsten asked.

"We just wanted to talk more about the move, that's all." Julie replied.

"Actually I was hoping I could talk to you and my dad tomorrow about the move." Kirsten asked.

"You want to talk about the move? Oh of course, Caleb's your father. I keep forgetting. Come by tomorrow morning." Julie said.'

"Great, I'll make sure Marissa is home early enough."

"Thank but we'll talk with her tomorrow. See you in the morning Kirsten."

"Yup, bye Julie." Kirsten said hanging up the phone and returned to her family.

"Who was on the phone/" Sandy asked.

"Julie." Kirsten replied.

"What did my mom want?" Marissa asked.

"She wanted to talk to you about the move tonight but I asked if you cold stay." Kirsten replied.

"Thanks, I don't want to deal with that tonight." Marissa sighed.

"I'm going to talk with my dad and Julie tomorrow morning. Just avoid them till after that." Kirsten suggested.

Marissa nodded.

The Nana's boyfriend arrived and everyone sat in the living room to talk. Everyone understood why the Nana wanted to get married and became happy for her.

Summer wanted to go home after a couple hours because she was practically falling asleep. Marissa and Ryan took the opportunity to leave as well and headed to the pool house.

Marissa looked upset so Ryan sat next to her.

"Ryan, I don't want to leave you." Marissa cried.

Ryan felt sick to his stomach with the thought of Marissa leaving. School was starting in a few weeks and he was not about to go back there without her.

"You're not going to." Ryan said.

"Ryan what if I have to, what will happen to us?" Marissa whispered.

"Do you really think your father is going to let that happen? Plus, Kirsten is going to talk to Caleb in the morning." Ryan said brushing his fingers through her hair.

"But what if Ryan." Marissa repeated.

Ryan knew she wanted an honest answer and he paused before answering her.

"Than we'll deal with it when it happens. We'll work through it together." Ryan replied and kissed her, "No matter what we're going to be together."

"And if Kirsten can't get through to Julie, I'll go up against her." Ryan laughed and so did Marissa.

"Well I'm actually pretty tired so I'm going to take off home." Marissa said standing up.

"Wait, you're leaving already." Ryan sighed.

"I'm falling asleep." Marissa confessed.

"Stay the night." Ryan asked.

"I'd love to Ryan but I don't want to get my mom angry. I think I should go home." Marissa answered.

"Ok, call me tomorrow?" Ryan asked.

"Of course. It's going to be weird to sleep alone tonight, without your arms around me. I'm going to miss it." Marissa explained.

Ryan smiled and hugged her for a long while and eventually let her go.

"Good night." Ryan said.

"Good night Ryan." Marissa replied and left.

Ryan laid in bed thinking to himself about his life. He didn't really have much hope for Kirsten's talk to Caleb and he was terrified of the end results. His life was finally the way he had always dreamed of. He had a family who cared and loved him, he had friends, a wonderful girlfriend and most of all he had a chance for a beautiful future. Before the Cohen's, he had these dreams but they were only dreams. Dreams never came true in Chino.

He began to think if Marissa gets ripped away from him, other things may be taken away just as easy. He started getting scared and felt completely helpless.

Finally after what seemed like hours, Ryan fell asleep.

Ryan was awakened by Sandy the next morning bearing coffee and cereal.

"What's going on? Is something wrong?" Ryan asked.

"No not at all. Kirsten is gone to talk with her father. Seth finally got some more sailing lessons to teach, so I figured we'd have breakfast and talk." Sandy replied.

Ryan began to wonder how Kirsten was getting along.

"So how do you feel about the move?" Sandy asked.

"Honestly, I hate it." Ryan replied.

"I guess you would, but Kirsten's talking to them right now and I'm willing to bet she's breaking them." Sandy said trying to help Ryan feel better.

"I'll believe it when I hear it." Ryan simply said


	10. Chapter 10

"Sandy? You out here?" Kirsten called out.

"Yeah in the pool house." Sandy called back.

Kirsten then entered the pool house, Ryan immediately sat up. He began feeling extremely nervous, he wanted to know what Caleb and Julie had said but was too afraid to ask.

"Good morning Ryan." Kirsten said.

"Well that depends on what you have to tell me." Ryan replied.

"Well..." Kirsten started, "I'm sorry sweetie they wouldn't listen to me."

"You're kidding. How cruel can they be? Marissa lived her entire life here. She's only a couple years from graduation. They are willing to pull her away from the life she's always known, from her friends and her father, from school? They've got to be nuts." Sandy stated.

"Wait. All hope is not lost though. They haven't dismissed the idea all together. They haven't maid their minds up. Actually they want you to join them and Marissa this weekend house hunting in Boston, Ryan." Kirsten said.

"They want me to go? Why?" Ryan asked stunned.

"Well for Marissa, they want her to go see what it's like and they know how you two mean to each other, I guess they figured it would be best for everyone." Kirsten said.

"Oh, what do you two thin? Should I go?" Ryan asked.

"That's up to you Ryan, but what ever you decide is ok with us." Sandy informed.

"Thank, maybe I should talk to Marissa before I make any decisions." Ryan replied.

"Of course, she actually told me she would be heading over here soon. So we'll leave you along but let us know once you decide what to do." Kirsten said and the two of them left.

Ryan sat by himself replaying what Kirsten told him. He wondered why Julie really wanted him to tag along.

"What am I going to do without her?" Ryan asked himself and wiped away a single tear that fell down his cheek. He was stopped by a sniffle he heard.

"Marissa he, how long have you been there?" Ryan mumbled.

"I'm sorry Ryan." Marissa replied.

"Hey it's not your fault." Ryan said giving her a quick half smile.

"I know, I'm sorry you have to go through this." Marissa said.

"I'm sorry you do too." Ryan replied letting Marissa sit next to him

Marissa cuddled into him

"My mom wants me to go to Boston with them this weekend and check it out." Marissa said.

"Yeah, Kirsten mentioned something along those lines." Ryan replied.

"Ryan would you come with us?" Marissa asked, "My mom suggested that you come along."

Ryan said nothing; he was studying Marissa's facial expressions.

"Ryan will you come with us?" Marissa asked taking his hand into hers, "I can't imagine spending an entire weekend with Caleb and my mom. I need you."

"A weekend with your mom, it'll be great." Ryan smiled.

Marissa smiled and kissed him.

"So you'll come? Maybe they'll let us share a room." Marissa winked.

"You know I'll come." Ryan replied.

"Maybe my mom and Caleb will see how much I love you and will let me stay in Newport instead of moving to Boston." Marissa suggested hopefully.

"Your mom hates me." Ryan said.

"If she hates you why would she invite you to come with us?" Marissa asked.

Ryan just shrugged, "Let's go tell Kirsten and Sandy about going to Boston."

Seth and Summer were with Sandy and Kirsten watching a movie.

"You guys are watching a movie without me?" Ryan said sitting down.

"Well Summer and Seth brought it home, so we decided to join them in watching it." Kirsten replied.

"Why didn't you ask us to join?" Ryan replied.

"We figured you and Marissa needed to talk." Sandy said.

"Can we join you?" Ryan asked.

"Of course, it just started." Sandy smiled and passed them a bowl of popcorn.

The weekend arrived and Summer was with Marissa while she was packing.

"You better hate this weekend because Boston is like, EWW!" Summer demanded.

"I promise Sum. I just hope my mom and Caleb don't force me to move there." Marissa said, "Do you think I should bring a sweater?"

"Maybe just one," Summer replied, "So Ryan's going with you huh?"

"Yeah." Marissa replied.

"Is Julie going to let you and Chino stay in the same room?" Summer asked.

"She's acting weird enough." Marissa laughed, "So what do you and Seth have planned for the weekend?"

"Cohen just bought the new Valley DVD set. We'll probably watch that than maybe we'll make our way out to the pool house." Summer smiled and winked.

"Sum, I sleep in that bed some times. Why don't you do it in Seth's bed?" Marissa replied.

"Well because we can be as loud as we want!" Summer joked, "Don't worry Coop we'll be careful!"

Marissa threw a pillow at Summer, "By the way haven't you seen like every episode of the Valley?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah but I can't get through the summer without it. I'm going through withdrawals already." Summer replied.

"Marissa we're ready to go so hurry up." Julie called out.

"Well Coop I'm out but have a horrible time in Boston. I can't wait till you get back and give me the good news that you're not moving." Summer said and gave Marissa a hug.

"Thanks Sum." Marissa replied and headed down stairs with her luggage.

"Where's Ryan, is he here yet?" Marissa asked as she got down stairs.

"He called earlier; I told him we'd pick him up." Caleb said entering the house to grab Marissa's bags.

"Oh, I was wondering why I hadn't heard from him yet today." Marissa said relieved.

"I hope Ryan and I could start over this weekend, wipe the slate clean." Julie suggested.

Marissa looked over at her mother wondering what she was up to, "I guess anything could happen."

"Sweetie I hope you're right because I want this with us to be ok too." Julie said putting her arms around her daughter.

"Well that will be a long shot." Marissa replied, "Let's go get Ryan."

Julie smiled softly and followed her daughter and Caleb out to the Limo.

When they got to the Cohen's, Marissa jumped out of the car to get Ryan who was waiting inside with Kirsten and Sandy.

"Hey Ryan, you ready to go?" Marissa smiled when she saw him.

"Yeah." Ryan replied and grabbed his duffle bag.

"Marissa." Kirsten said.

"Yes Kirsten." Marissa answered.

"I have a feeling Julie and Caleb have more planned for this weekend than their willing to tell you. If you need anything or us, just call me, ok?" Kirsten offered.

"Thanks Kirsten, I have a feeling I probably will be calling." Marissa sighed.

"Well, all in all have a good weekend you two." Sandy said and walked the two out the door.

"Wow, I've never had a limo pick me up before." Ryan smirked.

"Well it's not all it's cracked up to be when my mom and Caleb are waiting inside." Marissa joked.

"Hey don't worry about this weekend; I'll make sure it'll turn out ok." Ryan said trying to comfort his girlfriend.

"Thanks." Marissa said and they got into the limo and headed off to the airport.

"Hello?" Kirsten answered.

"Kirsten its Jimmy." Jimmy replied.

"Jimmy hi, how are you?" Kirsten asked.

"Umm confused actually. I've been hearing some rumours and I was hoping maybe you could clear them up for me?" Jimmy asked.

"If I can, of course I will. Why don't you come and join us for dinner?" Kirsten offered.

"If I won't be an inconvience than I'll be there shortly." Jimmy accepted.

"Cohen let's get some fast food and start watching the Valley." Summer suggested.

"Sounds good, I'll buy. I have some extra cash this week." Seth replied.

"Wow, what a sweet heart!" Summer said sarcastically.

"If you stay with me babe this is how we'll always be eating!" Seth laughed.

"Cohen remind me to pick up a new boyfriend while we're out." Summer joked.

"Can do!" Seth replied and pulled Summer into him as they walked towards the car.

"I really didn't think I'd be back on a plane this quick." Ryan stated.

"I know you hate flying but soon you'll be used to it, you won't even think twice about getting onto an airplane." Marissa replied.

"I doubt that." Ryan said.

"Ryan I really appreciate you coming, I know you are probably saying to yourself 'why did I agree to go' but it means a lot to me." Marissa said.

"I want to be honest with you about the real reason I came along." Ryan started, "If I hadn't have come, I would have been sitting around all weekend worried that you were falling in love with Boston. I needed to come so I would know right away whether you want to stay in Newport or move away to Boston."

"Ryan I may or may not like Boston but it won't matter because I love my life in Newport. I have no intentions on agreeing to move." Marissa said.

Ryan smiled slightly. The plane began to move; Ryan sat up straight, closed his eyes and slowly reached for Marissa's hand. She willingly took it into hers and rested he head on his shoulder. She softly spoke to him to relax him.

Caleb and Julie noticed Marissa and Ryan across from them.

"Marissa dated Luke for years and when she looked at him I was sure she was truly happy and in love. But now seeing Marissa with Ryan, I can tell what she has with him is completely real and what she had with Luke doesn't even compare to being the same." Julie sighed.

"Do you think our plan will work?" Caleb asked.

"Definitely!" Julie answered.

"So, Kirsten said you need help with some rumours that you heard." Sandy asked.

"Yeah, rumours about Caleb, Julie and my daughters." Jimmy replied.

"Well for starters because of legal matters my father needed to step down from the Newport Group. Now he had decided to focus more on real estate and such on the East coast." Kirsten offered.

"Wow!" Jimmy said stunned.

"So Caleb and Julie are moving to Boston." Sandy said.

"And they have it in their minds that my daughters are going too." Jimmy asked.

"I know Julie said that Caitlin is definitely moving and they really want Marissa to go too!" Kirsten said.

"Does Marissa want to move?" Jimmy asked.

"No, but she did agree to go with them this weekend house hunting. Actually Ryan has gone with them." Kirsten said.

"Ryan? Julie agreed to that?" Jimmy asked.

"It was her idea. We think she's up to something." Sandy replied.

"She must be, she really doesn't like Ryan." Jimmy said, "We've had many discussions about him and Marissa. Julie doesn't think he's good for her but I disagree."

"Ryan really loves Marissa; I know he'd never do anything to purposely hurt her." Kirsten said.

"What can I do to help Marissa? She is finally back to her old self; her psychologist says she's doing remarkably well. She finished last year with perfect grades. Julie can't pull her away now; it would be devastating to her recovery." Jimmy said.

"Now that you are financially stable, you have a suitable home; you can go for custody of Marissa. Especially with her recovering so well under your supervision, you'll have no problem winning." Sandy offered.

Jimmy sat silently after Sandy finished talking, thinking about what he was going to do. He did not want to loose his daughter.

When the plane landed and after the luggage was picked up, Caleb had a limo waiting.

"So Ryan I could tell you're not a plane person." Julie stated.

"No, I'm not. Heights aren't my thing," Ryan replied.

"What is your thing Ryan? What sorts of things are you into?" Julie asked.

"Well I uh, read a lot; history mostly." Ryan said, "I'm also interested in learning how things are made/built that sort of stuff."

"Really have you thought much about your future? What you want to do after school is finished?" Caleb asked.

"No not really." Ryan replied.

"You don't want to go to college?" Julie wondered.

"Colleges are for smart kids not ones like me." Ryan answered.

"Ryan your one of the smartest people I know. You'll be able to go anywhere or do anything you want." Marissa corrected.

"I can't really afford to go anywhere." Ryan sighed.

"Oh. Well if you could do anything after school what would you choose to do?" Julie asked.

"Uh I'd like to design stuff; building and stuff like that; and urban planner or a contractor or an architect." Ryan offered.

"Really Ryan you never told me that before, you'd be great being an architect." Marissa smiled at Ryan, "So mom where are we staying?"

"At the Hilton. Caleb booked the pent house for the two of us since we never really took a honeymoon. We booked you two a suite with 2 rooms of course." Julie answered, "We don't want what happened to that poor girl from Chino to happen to you Marissa. We trust you both to use the separate rooms."

"Mom! That was really uncalled for." Marissa said.

"Well its true isn't it. You're only 17 sweetie, you don't want to get pregnant do you?" Julie said.

Marissa glared at her mother, she felt horrible for Ryan; who was trying to ignore Julie's comments.

The limo pulled up to the hotel. Once inside the bellhop's took the stuff up to their rooms.

"Marissa it's 7:30, we'll meet you and Ryan at 8 in the lobby for supper, ok sweetie?" Julie said.

"Sure." Marissa agreed and headed towards her and Ryan's room.

The room was huge. They had a Jacuzzi in their bathroom, which Ryan and Marissa made a not to try later.

"Sorry Ryan, about what my mom said. She should realize that you were willing to give everything up to be responsible for your actions." Marissa said.

Ryan could tell it was really upsetting Marissa, he went over to her and wrapped his arms around her, "You don't have to apologise for your mother."

"I hope those two aren't planning anything, because they're acting really weird." Marissa sighed.

"Oh I was supposed to call home, hold on a sec." Ryan said unwrapping his arms from Marissa to use the phone.

"Hello?" Sandy answered.

"Hey Sandy it's me Ryan."

"Ryan hey, how was the flight?"

"Bearable, the hotel is great though." Ryan replied.

"Cool, is the gruesome twosome giving you guys a hard time?" Sandy asked.

"No it's been ok." Ryan replied.

"Well if they do you can call us at anytime." Sandy suggested.

"Thanks." Ryan said.

"Is Marissa with you now?" Sandy asked.

"Yeah, why?" Ryan replied.

"Jimmy's here, he'd like to talk to her if she's available." Sandy said.

"Ok hold on." Ryan said, "Marissa your dad's at the Cohen's do you want to talk to him?"

"Sure." Marissa said and took the phone.

"Hi kiddo, I here you're in Boston." Jimmy said.

"Yeah mom talked me into coming to check it out." Marissa replied.

"How is it, is everything ok?" Jimmy asked.

"For now. I'm just glade Ryan came along." Marissa replied.

"So am I, he'll keep everyone in line. He's about the only person not afraid of your mom." Jimmy laughed.

Marissa laughed too, "That's for sure. Well we have to meet mom and Caleb for supper at 8 so I'll talk to you later?"

"Ok kiddo, make sure you and Ryan have a good time, I love you." Jimmy said.

"Ok daddy, love you too." Marissa replied and hung the phone up.


	11. Chapter 11

The alarm went off so Ryan reached over to turn it off when realizing it was only 6.

"Marissa, why did you set the alarm for 6?" Ryan asked as he returned to his sleeping position and wrapped his arms around her.

"Really I set it for 6?" Marissa replied opening her eyes and smiled remembering the night before, "I must have been a little disorientated over last night."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Ryan said kissing her on the forehead.

"You definitely should!" Marissa agreed, "Did you reset the alarm?"

"Yes, 2 more hours of sleep." Ryan said yawning and closed his eyes with Marissa in his arms. The both fell back to sleep.

At 9:30 Marissa and Ryan met Caleb and Julie in the lobby and headed for a quick breakfast before checking out the first house.

The rest of the morning they viewed 3 houses, all were very nice and well kept but neither were as big as the palace caleb originally bought for Julie.

At lunch Caleb took everyone to a cozy little pub for lunch. While they were eating they were interupted by someone.

"Ryan? Ryan Atwood, is that you?" A girl with wavy, medium length blonde hair and huge green eyes said excitedly.

"Yeah, Cat?" Ryan replied standing up to greet her.

"Yeah, OMG what are you doing here?" Cathrine said and wrapped her arms around Ryan, "I haven't seen you since, well you know when."

Ryan smirked and looked away a little embarrased, "Yeah so how have you been, what are you doing in Boston?"

"I'm looking at going to school here, I'm graduating early, trying to get out of Chino as fast as possible. So I hear you got out, good for you. I'm sorry about everything that happened though." Cathrine stated.

"It's ok everything worked out. Oh Cat this is Marissa, her mom Julie and this is Mr. Nichol." Ryan said realizing he should introduce everyone.

"Hi, I'm an old girlfriend of Ryan's." Cathrine stated.

"Hi." Marissa replied and glanced over at her mom and Caleb. She noticed Caleb wink at her mother from the corner of her eye. She sat quietly for a second and realized her mom and Caleb planned this reunion.

"So, why don't you join us Cat?" Marissa asked.

"Umm, I was going to grab lunch by myself but if you guys don't mind, sure I'd love to." Cathrine replied and grabbed a chair.

"So Cat, what are you planning on taking at college?" Marissa asked, trying to show her parents that Cathrine wasn't going to come between her and Ryan.

"I want to become an archetect. I love buildings and I love drawing so hopefully I can find what I'm looking for here." She replied.

"Really, I didn't know you liked to draw?" Ryan said interested.

"Oh um, it's something I started after we broke up." Cathrine stated.

"Why did you choose Boston?" Marissa asked.

"It's far from California, from Chino, pretty much as far as I can get away from there." Cathrine replied.

"So Ryan what brings you guys to Boston?" Cathrine asked.

"Mr. Nichol and Julie are moving out here they asked us to join them to check it out." Ryan replied grabbing Marissa's hand.

"You guys are moving to Boston, so Marissa you'll be living here too." Cathrine said.

"Umm, I'm not sure." Marissa replied.

"Why don't we leave you guys alone to get reacquinted and we'll meet up with you later?" Caleb asked.

"Do you have plans for the rest of the afternoon?" Ryan asked.

"No not really, I'd love to catch up with you." Cathrine replied.

Julie and Caleb got up to leave and Marissa got up as well.

"I'm going to go with them." Marissa said to Ryan and started to walk out behind Julie and Caleb.

"Can you hold on one sec?" Ryan asked and ran after Marissa, "Marissa wait a second."

Marissa stopped and turned around facing Ryan, Ryan noticed she didn't look mad at all and it confused him, why was she leaving.

"Why are you leaving, stay with us." Ryan asked taking her hand.

"Ryan, I think she's here because of my mom and Caleb. I saw my Caleb wink at my mom when she came to our table. Ryan, I'm positive about this. You stay here and pretend like we don't know and I'll see what my mom and Caleb are doing." Marissa said.

"Are you sure, you're not going to be mad at me later are you?" Ryan asked.

"No, I promise! Just behave yourslf, you do have a girlfriend!" Marissa smiled and gave Ryan a kiss and left. Ryan returned to Cathrine.

Ryan and Cathrine spent the day together, although Ryan was a little nervous. He wanted to ask Cathrine about her connection to Mr. Nichol and Julie but he also didn't want to ruin what Marissa may have in mind for them. They ended up in the lobby of the hotel.

"I still can't believe you're here, I mean what are the chances of running into you here in Boston." Cathrine said grabbing Ryan's hand.

"I know it's really strange. So what are you doing tonight? Do you have any plans?" Ryan asked.

"No, I was hoping maybe you and I could do something. Maybe check out a movie or find a club or something?" Cathrine suggested.

"Um, you know Marissa and I are seeing eachother right?" Ryan asked, "I thought you realized that."

"Oh, I assumed but was hoping otherwise." Cathrine replied, "I was hoping we could spend tonight like the last time we were together, do you remember that night? I was the hottest , most incredible night ever!"

"I don't think that is such a good idea, Marissa probably won't like it." Ryan replied.

"Marissa doesn't have to know." Cathrine replied and winked at him.

Ryan noticed Marissa through the corner of his eye in an elevator waving at him to go over to her.

"Um, Cat can you wait here for a second? I just have to get something, I won't be long at all." Ryan asked.

"Sure, not a problem." Cathrine replied and Ryan ran over to the elevator that Marissa was in.

Ryan got in and the door closed.

"Where were you all day, I was hoping you would have met up with us earlier." Ryan said.

"I was with my mom and Caleb. They kept asking how I felt about you being with your ex. It seemed like they were trying to make me jealous, asking if I was worried things might happen while the two of you were alone." Marissa replied.

"So you really think your mom and Caleb had something to do with her being here?" Ryan asked.

"Definitely, I think they are trying to break us up so I'll agree to live here." Marissa replied, "Has she been doing anything to make you believe I might be right?"

"Actually she has been hitting on me. Maybe they thought I'd give in to her and have you catch us or something along those lines." Ryan replied.

"You haven't given in to her, right?" Marissa asked giving him a small kiss.

"Well, we did have sex but besides that no." Ryan laughed.

"Ryan!" Marissa replied.

"So what do we do now?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know, I could pretend I caught you and then take off, return to Newport along. Have them worried about me and when they come home I'll tell them I knew about their plan all along." Marissa answered.

"What if they aren't planning anything?" Ryan asked.

"There is only one way to find out, let's asked Cat." Marissa said.

"What if she tells Caleb and Julie about us knowing?" Ryan asked.

"I'm sure Caleb is paying her off to do this, so we'll just tell her that Caleb and my mom will never know she told. She'll get what she wants and we'll get what we want." Marissa replied.

"Fine let's go ask her, where is Caleb and Julie now?" Ryan asked.

"Up in their hotel room, they're spending the night up there. So we shouldn't get caught." Marissa replied.

Ryan and Marissa returned to Cathrine and asked if they all could go somewhere to talk. Cathrine agreed and they headed up to Marissa and Ryan's room.

"Cathrine, my mom and Caleb are moving here. I don't want to move with them, I want to stay in Newport with my father. My mom and Caleb are trying everything to force me to move here and I am getting this suspicious feeling that they have gotten you involved in their plot to drive me to moving to Boston." Marissa said, "They don't know that I'm talking to you but if you know anything about this can you please tell us."

Cathrine sat quietly looking down at the floor.

"Cat, Caleb and Julie will never know that we confronted you or that you told us anything. If they confronted you about trying to seduce me, please tell us." Ryan begged.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Cathrine replied but

"I don't know what you're talking about." Cathrine replied but looked as if she was hiding something.

"Cat, if you tell us Caleb will never know. You'll still get what he offered you and we'll get what we want. They'll never know you sold out." Ryan replied.

Cathrine looked Ryan in the eyes, she could see it was really important to him to know the truth.

"Ok honestly, Caleb did offer me something to try to get you back Ryan. But I actually approached him first." Cathrine stated.

"What? Why did you go to talk to Caleb?" Marissa asked.

"Umm.." Cathrine started, "Actually I'd probably feel more comfortable telling Ryan this first."

Ryan looked confused, he didn't know what she was about to tell him.

"Ok if that is what you want, I'll go into the bedroom while you guys talk." Marissa said and left the room also confused about what Cathrine was going to tell Ryan.

"Ok, what is it?" Ryan asked.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you, I really missed you Ryan." Cathrine started, "I found out where you were living and I went to your house, that is where I ran into Mr. Nichol. You weren't home, when I asked for you he immediately asked if I would meet him and his wife to discuss something."

"So they asked you to come to Boston and act like we just happened to run into eachother. And all the stuff you told me about becoming an archetect and everything else that we just happened to have in common was their way of trying to break Marissa and I up and for me to fall for you again?" Ryan asked.

"That was the plan. Mr. Nichol said that if I was able to pull it off, he would pay for my education. Which is important to me." Cathrine said, "Look Ryan, I'm sorry."

"Cat do you really remember our last night together?" Ryan asked, "We were really messed up, we never had anything other than sex. That was all we ever did."

"I always thought we could have had more." Catrine replied.

"I'm not the same person I was then. I'm with someone else now, you should find someone too." Ryan said.

"It's actually pretty weird to see Ryan Atwood in a serious relationship, to actually hear him say he has a girlfriend." Cathrine stated.

"Why don't we go tell Marissa what her mom and Caleb did and we'll figure out a plan to get what we all want." Ryanr replied and led Cathrine to where Marissa was.

Ryan knocked on the bedroom door,

"Marissa? Can we come in?" Ryan asked through the door.

"Yeah, sure come in." Marissa called back. Ryan and Cathrine went in. Ryan sat next to Marissa and Cathrine found a chair by the window.

"Ok, Caleb offered to pay Cat's education if she broke the two of us up. That's why Julie and Caleb were pushing me with all those questions, they were feeding them to Cat to make me think we were she was the one for me and I guess to make you jealous so we'd break up." Ryan said.

"Wow, now we got to make it look like their plan worked." Marissa replied, "I'll call my dad and get him to buy me a ticket to come home. When my mom and Caleb ask tomorrow, tell them I left because we broke up."

"You are going to leave tonight?" Ryan asked surprised.

"Yeah, and Cat can stay here in the spare room tonight, just incase my mom comes to the door, it'll really look good." Marissa suggested.

"Can't you leave early tomorrow morning?" Ryan begged.

"I'll call my dad and get hime to charge a...never mind my dad doesn't have a credit card!" Marissa realized.

"I'll call the Cohen's, I'm sure you're dad will pay them back." Ryan smiled and picked the phone up and dialed home.

"Hello?" Kirsten answered.

"Hey Kirsten it's Ryan."

"Ryan, is everything ok?" Kirsten asked.

"Umm, everything will be but I can't talk about it now, I will when I get home though. But right now I was hoping you could do Marissa a favour." Ryan asked.

"Of course anything, what is it?" Kirsten asked worried.

"Can you get a ticket for Marissa to go home as soon as possible?" Ryan asked.

"Ok, yeah. Are you ok? Should I get you a ticket too?" Kirsten asked.

"No, she just really needs to get home now." Ryan replied.

"Ok no problem but I have one more question." Kirsten replied, "Are you and Marissa ok? Did you guys have a fight?"

"No, Marissa and I are great." Ryan replied.

"Good, call back in about 10 minutes and I'll tell you when the flight is." Kirsten said and hung up.

"Kirsten is going to get one, I have to call her back soon to find out when your flight is." Ryan replied.

15 minutes later Ryan called Kirsten back. The next flight leaving Boston for California wasn't until 4:30 the next morning but Kirsten booked it anyway. Kirsten said she would pick Marissa up at the airport when she arrived and she was expecting to find out what was going on.

Cathrine, Ryan and Marissa stayed in their room all night. They watched movies and ordered room service. Cathrine went to bed around 10:30 leaving Marissa and Ryan alone.

"I'm sorry about what is going on." Marissa said cuddling into Ryan.

"It's not your fault for anything. Your mom just hasn't liked me from the moment I moved to Newport. She blames me for you and Luke breaking up, for the stuff that happened in Mexico, moving in with your father, you finding out about her and Caleb, you finding out about her and Luke." Ryan said, "Actually it sounds like I'm the cause for just about everything that happened this past year."

"Ryan don't say that. Luke and I would have broken up with or without you coming to Newport. You didn't force my mom with Caleb or Luke, she caused that. Mexico was totally not your fault, you were the one who actually helped me with the situation instead of making it worse." Marissa comforted.

"Do you ever wonder how this past year would have been like without me here?" Ryan asked.

"Yes and I think it would have been horrible. You changed me for the better. I was stuck in this bubble, on the outside I pretended to be fine but on the inside I was a mess." Marissa stated, "You actually saved me, inside and out."

Ryan looked Marissa in the eyes. He wished that everything could be perfect but he knew that things were always going to be hard but he wasn't going to let them get in his way any more.


	12. Chapter 12

Kirsten picked Marissa up at the airport the next morning and Marissa filled Kirsten up one what happened in Boston. Kirsten wasn't suprised that they would go to that level to make Marissa move to Boston with them.

"We told your dad last night that Julie and my dad want you to move to Boston with them." Kirsten mentioned.

"What did he say?" Marissa asked surprised.

"Well, he definitely does not want you to move. I think he's going to talk to your mom and if things don't go as he wants them he is going to go for full custody of you." Kirsten replied.

"Really?" Marissa said happily, "Than my mom and Caleb can't force me to move to Boston."

"Sandy thinks he has a pretty solid case if he decides to go through with it. I'm sure once he hears about their little stunt, your mom won't have a choice." Kirsten said.

"I hope so." Marissa sighed.

"Do you want to go get some breakfast? My treat, the plane probably didn't have anything good on it." Kirsten offered.

"Sure I'm really hungry." Marissa agreed.

Back in Boston Ryan woke up to someone at the door. He quickly go up and answered it.

"Ryan? Are you and Marissa ready to go to the airport?" Julie asked walking into the room just as Cathrine came out of the bedroom.

Ryan saw Julie grin but quickly lost it, "Ryan what is she doing in your hotel room? Where is Marissa?"

"She left last night. We broke up." Ryan replied.

"She left? Why did she leave, what did you to her?" Julie asked sternly.

"She saw me kissing Cathrine. I tried to stop her but she left anyway, she said I was better off with Cathrine which she probably is right anyway." Ryan replied.

"My poor baby," Julie said, "I'd tell you to find your own way home but Kirsten would have me killed, so hurry up. Marissa is so much better off with out you, all you did was cause her pain."

Ryan nodded and went to pack his bag, grinning to himself. Julie actually thought she won but he couldn't wait till they returned to Newport.

Once Ryan was packed he said his goodbye to Cathrine and wished her good luck, she left just before he did because she had to meet Caleb before they left. Ryan went down to the lobby and met Julie.

Caleb gave Cathrine a cheque for made payable to the college where Cathrine planned on attending in September and made his way down to Ryan and Julie.

Once back in Newport, Caleb and Julie dropped Ryan off at his house.

"I was talking to Kirsten last night, she was hoping you two would come in when you dropped me off." Ryan said. Caleb and Julie followed Ryan into the Cohen house.

Marissa and Jimmy were sitting in the livingroom with Sandy and Kirsten. Marissa got up and gave Ryan a kiss and they left the adults alone to talk.

"What is going on here?" Julie asked.

"Why don't you sit down and let's talk about Marissa." Jimmy said.

"What do we have to talk about?" Julies asked.

"Marissa moving to Boston with you and Caleb, that is never going to happen Julie, not as long as I'm living." Jimmy said.

"I thought Marissa and Ryan broke up, what is going on?" Caleb asked.

"Marissa found out that you and Julie set them up this weekend, she came home early because of it." Sandy replied.

"Set them up? How so?" Caleb asked trying to sound like he had no clue what was going on.

"Bringing Ryan's old friend to Boston. You have a very bright daughter Julie and you should have realized Marissa is too smart for your tricks." Kirsten said, "She told me everything when I picked her up this morning."

"Those kids minds are very creative, why would we bring Ryan's old friend to Boston?" Caleb laughed.

"To break them up, Marissa and Ryan both sensed something going on from the very moment you asked Ryan to go along. It shocked us as well." Sandy informed.

"You are going to believe those two? It's crazy talk." Caleb said.

"Ok Julie, if you don't let our daughter stay here with me in Newport, I'm taking you to court for full custody." Jimmy stated.

"You can't take me to court for custody, you'll never win." Julie replied.

"Actually Julie, he has a pretty solid case. You are the one who will find it hard to win. No court will pull a girl away from her the only life she has ever know, especially when her father is 100 willing to let her stay with him, who wants her with him." Sandy informed.

Julie stood up and left. Caleb got up as well, "I can't believe you Kirsten would host such a intervention." Caleb left the Cohen house as well."

Ryan and Marissa heard the door close and returned to the livingroom where Sandy, Kirsten and Jimmy were sitting.

"How did it go?" Marissa asked sitting next to her father.

"I don't know but I'm sure that you won't be moving anytime soon kiddo." Jimmy replied and kissed his daughters forehead.

"Sorry for everything, I guess your dad is a bit mad at you Kirsten?" Ryan asked.

"He'll get over it. Everything will be fine, I'm just glade you two are all right." Kirsten smiled

"Where's Seth, we went up to his room but he wasn't there." Ryan asked.

"He is down at the beach with Summer. I know Summer is a basket case thinking you're moving away." Kirsten laughed.

"I should go down there and let her know what happened." Marissa replied.

"I'm sure she can't wait to find out." Ryan said standing up, "Can I borrow the Range Rover for a little while?"

"Sure, the keys are hung up." Sandy smiled.

Marissa and Ryan walked out to the car, "Hey you want to hang out at the beach?" Marissa asked.

"Umm, swimming?" Ryan asked.

"Well maybe." Marissa replied.

"I'll go change, her start the car I'll be right back." Ryan said and ran to the poolhouse to change his shorts.

Ryan returned and jumped into the car, "We have to stop at my house for my swimsuit." Marissa asked.

"You really want to go there right now?" Ryan asked.

Marissa sat thinking for a second, "No not really."

"Did you bring one to Boston with you?" Ryan wondered.

"Yeah I did, it's in the house, do you mind waiting for me?" Marissa laughed.

Ryan smiled and Marissa hurried into the house to change. Once they reached the beach, Ryan parked and the went looking for Seth and Summer. As they walked Ryan slipped his fingers between Marissa's, he was happy knowing she wasn't moving away.

"Coop, OMG tell me what Boston was like." Summer yelled from behind them.

They both turned around to see Summer running down the beach towards them.

"Summer, hey we were just looking for you and Seth." Marissa laughed.

"Really? Ok are you moving or what?" Summer demanded.

"No Sum, I'm staying right here with you guys." Marissa laughed.

"Where is Seth?" Ryan asked looking down the beach.

"He's gone to get us something to drink, comeone and join us." Summer said grabbing Marissa's hand and pulled her down the beach to where they were set up.

Ryan set two chairs up for him and Marissa and they spent the next few hours having a good time with SUmmer and Seth.

It was Summer's birthday in a couple of days and Seth had no idea what to do for it. Ryan was waiting for him all morning to finally get up, so he eventually decided to go and wake him up. When he reached Seth's room he found Seth awake and dressed on his computer.

"Hey man what are you doing?" Ryan asked sitting down on Seth's bed.

"Do you know what is coming up in just a couple of days?" Seth asked.

"No, what?" Ryan asked curious.

"Summer's birthday and I have no idea what to do." Seth replied, "What do you get or do for someone who has everything?"

"I don't know, get her something meaningful, like something that connects you and her together." Ryan replied but stunned that he came up with such an answer.

"Ryan who knew you could be so sentimental. But what kind of thing ties Summer and me together?" Seth said.

"Look that is something I don't know, maybe Marissa can help you on that one." Ryan replied.

"Really you think so? She is Summer's bestfriend, maybe you should ask her for me." Seth replied.

"Why don't you ask her yourself, she coming over soon." Ryan replied.

"Hey I'm stealing your girlfriend for the afternoon, you're going to deal with that because I need her help." Seth said all frustrated.

"Calm down man, it's only a birthday there's nothing to stress out about." Ryan said practically laughing at how Seth was acting.

"When did you say Marissa was going to be here? Can you call and ask her to come now?" Seth asked, "Never mind I will."

Ryan stood up laughing and left the room. Once he reached the bottom of the stairs Marissa knocked at the door. Ryan went to answer it and smiled when he seen Marissa's face.

"Hey." Ryan said.

"Hey you too." Marissa replied and smiled back at Ryan, "So Seth just called my cell phone, freaking out about Summer's birthday."

"Yeah I know, he's stressing out because he doesn't know what to do or what to give Summer for her birthday." Ryan replied, "He wants you to help him since you're her best friend."

"Now?" Marissa sighed, "I was hoping we could go out to the poolhouse and talk for awhile."

Marissa winked at Ryan and he nodded, "Yeah I think that could be arranged."

Marissa and Ryan were out in the poolhouse making out when Seth came looking for them, eventually finding them in the poolhouse.

"I've been up in my room all day worrying about Summer's birthday while the two of you are out here exploring eachother. Not today though, Marissa I need you now." Seth demanded.

"Seth Summer won't care what you get her as long as it comes from the heart, do you really need me?" Marissa sighed.

"Yes, I need an experienced shopper and your the experienced shopper I need." Seth said pulling Marissa up off Ryan.

"If I have to go than Ryan has to." Marissa replied.

Ryan gave Marissa a stare and Marissa grinned back.

"Let's go Ryan, times ticking by and I have nothing done." Seth said and heading out the door.

Marissa looked at Ryan and laughed, "When he's determined to do something than he's going to get it done."

"Yeah don't I know it." Ryan replied and they both headed out to the car.

Seth, Marissa and Ryan spent the next 4 hours roaming from store to store. Nothing they found was good enough in Seth's eyes to give to Summer, nothing said what he wanted to say to Summer.

Marissa found a CD and a really cool shirt for Summer, Ryan threw in a few other small things Marissa said Summer would love and Ryan and Marissa had Summer finsihed.

As they continued walking around the mall, Seth stopped in front of a jewellry store.

"Hey man, jewellry are you sure?" Ryan asked.

"What do you mean, why wouldn't he want to get her jewellry?" Marissa asked curious.

"Well they haven't even been together a year, they really only been together for like 6 months." Ryan replied.

"Some people get married after only 6 months, girls like jewellry Ryan and it doesn't have to mean anything more than what you let it." Marissa stated, "And you don't even know what he wants to buy her, what is wrong with a bracelet, necklace or earrings?"

"You're right, do you want to go in there Seth?" Ryan asked.

"Actually I think I know what I want to get Summer, but you guys can you leave? I want to pick this out on my own?" Seth asked.

"Sure if you want us to. We'll go wait for you in the food court." Marissa replied and took Ryans hand.

"So Ryan you have a problem with buying girlfriends jewellry?" Marissa asked.

"I guess I connected jewellry with major commitments." Ryan replied.

"Major commitments? What do you mean like marriage?" Marissa asked.

"I guess the I think we're going to be together forever statements kind of throws me, it's not that I don't want to be with someone forever but to say it when your so young, when things change so much. I just think you should commit when you know for sure, not when you just want it." Ryan replied.

Marissa looked at him kind of shocked, "Do you think you'd know once you met the right person?"

"I don't know but I don't think you know right away, I think it grows on you after a long time. I don't think that people who are our age or who've been together for six months, a year or even two years knows whether or not they'll be together in 5 or 10 years time. Everyone wishes but no one really knows foresure." Ryan replied.

"It makes sense but some times you have to jump into something to know whether or not it'll happen don't you think?" Marissa asked.

"Sure, I'm just saying stuff like that can't be jumped into really fast. I think people should date for a few years before becoming engaged and wait another year or two before actually getting married, by then you should know whether you're meant for eachother." Ryan said.

"I understand your point of view but just to let you know for future gift buying for your girlfriend; earrings, bracelets and necklaces are not considered making commitments and neither are some rings." Marissa smiled.

"Hint taken." Ryan replied smiling back, "What about watches?" Ryan looked down at the watch Marissa gave him for Christmas.

"Watches? Umm, they're gifts to make sure you're not late picking us up!" Marissa laughed and leaned over the table to kiss Ryan.

"Well I have it, the perfect gift for Summer's birthday!" Seth said holding up a small bag, "I just need to figure out what to do for her birthday and we're all set to head home."

"What, you want us to help decided what to do for her birthday?" Ryan asked shocked.

"Of course, what kind of experience do I have in this department? None, zip, zero and I need your help." Seth demanded.

"Just take her for dinner." Marissa replied.

"Dinner? Yes she needs to eat but what else can I do for her that day?" Seth asked.

"Go to the spa with her? Take her to some class she's wanted to join, please let us go Seth." Marissa begged.

"She was saying she's like to take a cooking class, maybe that is something we could do." Seth replied.

"Some how I can't see Summer in the kitchen, especially cooking." Ryan said trying to see it.

"Really she did want to take a class, ok you guys are free to go just pick me up when I call you." Seth said throwing the keys at Ryan, "Have fun making out!"

Marissa and Ryan headed back to her place, her dad's place.

"Hey dad." Marissa said giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hey kiddo, what are you two up to today?" Jimmy asked.

"We were just at the mall, Summer's birthday is on Friday." Marissa replied.

"Oh yes, what did you get her?" Jimmy asked.

"A cd and a shirt, I think she'll like it." Marissa said.

"Of course she will. So how is Summer and Seth? Are they still together?" Jimmy questioned just for conversation.

"They're good, Seth's freaking out right now because he doesn't know what to do for her on her birthday. It's actually pretty hilarious." Marissa replied.

"Well kiddo I have to meet Hailey in a few minutes so I'll see you later?" Jimmy asked.

"Of course, have fun." Marissa said as her dad left the apartment.

Ryan made his self comfortable on the couch and Marissa did the same.

"Dirty Dancing is on Ryan, let's watch it." Marissa said as Ryan went through the stations.

"Dirty Dancing? You want me to watch that?" Ryan said not interested, "There's a baseball game on."

"Please Ryan, you'll like it. I promise you will." Marissa begged.

"How do you know i'll like it?" Ryan asked.

"Lots of guys do." Marissa replied.

"How many guys do you know of who like that movie?" Ryan asked thinking she knew of none.

"Luke liked it, my dad likes it. Summer's ex boyfriend watched it like a hundred times." Marissa defended herself, "Comeon Ryan! I'll tell you what, if you don't like it I'll do what ever you want me to do for the next week."

"What ever I want?" Ryan smiled.

"Yes, what ever you want." Marissa relied, "But only if you watch Dirty Dancing with me."

Ryan smiled and turned the movie on. Marissa cuddled into him as they watched the movie. They hadn't done that in a long time, Marissa really was enjoying it and Ryan was too.

Just before the movie was over, Jimmy and Hailey returned back to the apartment.

"Hey guys what are you watching?" Hailey asked.

"Dirty Dancing." Marissa responded.

"Hey that's one of my favourite movies, aw it's almost over." Jimmy stated sitting down next to Marissa.

Jimmy and Hailey watched the rest of the movie with Ryan and Marissa.

"So Ryan, what did you think? Did you like it at all?" Marissa asked.

"Actually it was a good movie." Ryan smiled, "I guess you don't have to be my slave for the week."

"I guess not, I told you you'd like it." Marissa said happily.

"So Ryan, we're having a bbq for dinner, you want to stay and join us?" Jimmy asked.

"Um sure, it's not like Kirsten will be cooking." RYan joked.

"I can't imagine she will be, so you'll join us?" Jimmy replied.

"Yeah sure, I'll just call and let them know." Ryan replied and picked the phone up to call home.

Seth finally finished planning and preparing for Summer's birthday and called Ryan to pick him up.

"Hey Ryan can you pick me up now?" Seth asked.

"You've been at the mall this entire time?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, but I'm done now and I need a ride home." Seth replied.

"Sure, we'll be there in a few minutes." Ryan replied and hung the phone up.

"Who was that?" Marissa asked.

"Seth he needs a ride home." Ryan replied, "You want to come for a drive with me?"

"Yeah sure, Dad Seth called a needs a ride home so Ryan and I will be back soon ok?" Marissa called out.

"Sure sweetie." Jimmy replied and Ryan and Marissa left.


	13. Chapter 13

"Hey Ryan I need a favour from you on Summer's birthday." Seth said.

"What is it?" Ryan asked kind of afraid of what Seth might ask.

"I need to borrow the poolhouse, I need you out for the day." Seth replied.

"Ok but why do you need the poolhouse?" Ryan wondered.

"Well, it's away from the house, it's cozy and can be romantic for the night. My parents are going away for the night but it's like having our own little place. You wouldn't mind spending the night in the house would you?" Seth asked.

"I guess not, so what do you have planned for Summer anyway?" Ryan asked.

"I'll tell you after her birthday. I'm not spilling anything till its over with." Seth firmly said.

"Why Seth, you afraid we'll tell Summer?" Marissa laughed.

"Yes." Seth said flately.

"So Kirsten and Sandy won't be home? Maybe I can spend the night too?" Marissa said looking over at Ryan who smiled back at her.

"Only if you're good." Ryan joked.

"What were you two doing when I called?" Seth asked.

"We were at my house waiting for my dad to finish dinner." Marissa replied.

"Really? Home cooked food, that must be nice." Seth sighed.

"Don't worry Seth, Kirsten is cooking tonight." Ryan laughed.

"Yeah can I come over Marissa?" Seth replied, "No I think Summer is coming over tonight anyway."

"I think she mentioned that earlier." Marissa replied.

"Hey why don't the four of us rent some movies tonight?" Seth asked.

"Sounds ok to me, Ryan?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah sure, we'll call you after dinner." Ryan replied pulling into the Cohen's driveway.

"OK, thanks for picking me up." Seth said hopping out of the car.

Marissa and Ryan returned back to her place and Jimmy had dinner just about cooked.

Ryan and Marissa cleaned up and did the dishes after they finished eating and then headed up to Marissa's room.

Ryan sat down on the bed and Marissa cuddled in to him.

"What do you want to do tonight?" Ryan asked.

"I don't care, are you interested in watching movies with Sum and Seth?" Marissa asked.

"I don't care." Ryan replied and looked down at Marissa.

Marissa looked up at him and he knew she didn't want to decide. He could tell she wanted him to decide whether or not they were going to hang out with Summer and Seth.

"We really haven't spent a lot of time with them lately, maybe we should hang out with them." Ryan suggested.

Marissa smiled at him, "You never decide, I'm happy you did."

"It's only early, we don't need to head back to my place yet do we?" Ryan hinted.

"Probably not what did you have in mind?" Marissa smiled.

"Uh, we're alone in your room. You're dad is being entertained by Hailey downstairs." Ryan smiled pulling Marissa up to his lips, "I was thinking we could..."

Ryan kissed her, Marissa sat up and got on top of Ryan as they continued kissing. Ryan started moving his hand up the back of Marissa's shirt just as Jimmy opened the door.

"Oh uh I guess, um, I should have knocked first." Jimmy said not really believing he walked in on his daughter making out.

Marissa jumped up and quickly fixed her shirt, "Dad, um hi."

"I was just going to tell you that Hailey and I were going to a movie but I think we'll just stay home and watch one." Jimmy said as he pushed the door wide open and headed back downstairs.

Ryan continued sitting on the bed slightly nervous.

"Sorry about that Ryan." Marissa said embarrased.

"It's ok, I think your dad probably hates me now." Ryan said.

"No he doesn't, it's just weird. He's never walked in on me like that before." Marissa said trying to make Ryan feel less awkward.

"He'll never leave us alone again." Ryan replied.

"Why don't we call Seth and Summer now?" Marissa suggested.

"Yeah." Ryan replied picking up the phone.

Seth and Summer were at the movie store when Ryan called Seth's phone. They made plans to meet at the Cohen's house at 9, Seth and Summer were stopping for something to eat before they headed home.

Ryan and Marissa decided to leave anyway, even though it was only 7:30. They made their way downstairs and ran into Jimmy and Hailey who were watching a movie on TV.

"Umm, dad Ryan and I are going over to his house to watch movies with Summer and Seth." Marissa said.

"What time are you going to be home kiddo?" Jimmy asked sounding if he wasn't at all mad at her or Ryan.

"Umm, I'm not sure." Marissa replied confused, "Dad are we ok?"

"Of course we are, why would you think otherwise?" Jimmy asked.

"Because of what just happened upstais." Marissa answered.

"Marissa I'm not naive, I've been you're age before. You're a amazingly bright and smart girl and I trust you to make smart and wise decisions. And even though it was weird for me to walk in on my daughter with a boy, I like you Ryan and I do trust you." Jimmy replied.

"Thanks." Ryan replied a little stunned by Jimmy's statement.

"Ok daddy, thank you for trusting us." Marissa said giving her dad a kiss on the cheek.

Marissa and Ryan left the apartment.

"That was a lot easier than I thought it would be." Ryan said as he got into the Range Rover.

"I know, I thought he would have given me a lecture and a curfew." Marissa agreed.

"No father has ever told me he's trusted me, especially with his daughter." Ryan laughed.

"Well hopefully our relationship is different from every other female encounter you have had previously." Mairssa said.

"It is, completely different." Ryan replied.

"Even the one you had with Theresa?" Marissa asked not sure if she should have said it at all.

"Yes different, completely different. And in a good way." Ryan replied.

Marissa smiled and leaned over and kissed Ryan.

Marissa and Ryan headed over to his house to be alone until Seth and Summer returned with the videos. Once Ryan and Marissa entered the poolhouse they found Summer and Seth making out on Ryan's bed.

"Don't you have your own bedroom with your own bed?" Marissa asked. Seth jumped up startled.

"My mom and dad are up there taking measurements." Seth replied.

"For what?" Ryan asked.

"There are remodeling the upstairs, building you a room." Seth replied helping Summer up off the bed.

"They really are building me a room in the house?" Ryan said surprised.

"Yeah, you're part of the family and you shouldn't have to live outside of the house." Seth replied.

"I liked you living out here." Marissa stated.

"Maybe that is another reason why they're moving you inside." Seth laughed.

"Did you guys get the movies yet?" Marissa asked.

"No, we'll go now." Summer replied.

"I don't want to go." Seth said.

"Cohen, I'm not going by myself." Summer said.

"Sum I'll go with you." Marissa suggested.

"Cool. We can get movies we like than." Summer said as she started walking to the door.

"Wait I'll go then." Seth said.

"No it's ok Cohen, Coop's coming with me." Summer said and they left.

"Ah man, they're going to get all chick movies." Seth complained.

"You like chick movies." Ryan stated.

"Yes but only some of them." Seth defended.

"OK? Let's go see what your parents are doing." Ryan suggested.

Ryan and Seth headed upstairs to Kirsten and sandy who were in Seth's room.

"Hey what are you guys doing in here?" Seth asked.

"We were thinking about maybe redoing your room, what do you think about having a bathroom join your room with Ryan's?" Kirsten asked.

"Sounds good, only if we can have a tv in there though!" Seth said.

"A tv in the bathroom?" Kirsten said and disregarded his comment.

""Ryan do you have a suggestions on what you'd like done with your room." Sandy asked.

"You don't have to do this, I'm ok with staying out in the poolhouse." Ryan said.

"It's not right having you out there while the rest of us are in the house." Sandy said.

"Really it's too much to build an extra room just for me." Ryan replied.

"We're doing this Ryan." Kirsten stated, "Do you want anything special done to the room?"

"Special? What do you mean, like colours or something?" Ryan asked.

"Sure anything. The size? Shape? Colour, whatever." Kirsten replied.

"Anything is fine." Ryan answered. "When are you starting this?"

"Tomorrow, that's when the contractors are coming." Kisten replied.

"Do you guys mind if I helped them out?" Ryan asked.

"You want to help them work?" Sandy asked.

"Yeah this sort of stuff is interesting to me." Ryan replied.

"Are you thinking about doing this after school? Maybe go to college and study it?" Sandy asked.

"Maybe, I think so." Ryan answered.

"Great, you've been thinking about college. When I met you, you said you didn't want to commit to anything, this is a good start." Sandy said.

"Yeah, i guess living with you guys has started to change me a bit." Ryan replied.

"So what are you guys doing tonight?" Kirsten asked.

"Yeah, where are the ladies?" Sandy asked.

"Their out getting movies " Seth answered.

"We're heading out for the evening so you'll have the house to yourselves." Kirsten stated.

"Great, comeone Ryan the girls will be back soon " Seth said and headed downstairs.

Ryan and Seth sat down in the living room to watch some tv.

"So college Ryan?" Seth said realizing that the brother he's only recently got may not be in his life forever.

"Yeah maybe, but let's not talk about this tonight." Ryan replied.

"Talk about what?" Marissa asked as her and Summer entered the living room.

"Uh, college." Ryan replied as Marissa sat next to him.

"Ryan was just telling my parents he may go to college." Seth said.

"Yeah he mentioned that in Boston as well." Marissa smiled and gave Ryan a kiss.

"Cohen I got us something to eat, let's go to the kitchen." Summer said showing him the fastfood bag.

"Why were you talking about college?" marissa asked.

"Oh the contractors start tomorrow remodeling the upstairs and I'm going to help." Ryan replied.

"You're going to help, so you'll be working tomorrow?" Marissa smiled.

"YEah." Ryan replied.

"Can I come over on your break?" Marissa asked.

"I'll be hot and sweaty, do you really want to come over?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, you'll look so sexy. Maybe I'll stay over and spend the day outside and watch you. It'll be such a turn on seeing you hard at work." Marissa said kissing Ryan.

"Really?" Ryan asked surprised.

"Definitely." Marissa stated.

Ryan gave her a look of approval and started kissing her.

"SO Ryan we're off." Sandy said interrupting their kissing.

Sandy gave them a look letting them know they better behave themselves.

"Have a good time Mr. and Mrs. Cohen, we'll be good I promise." Marissa said a little embarrased.

"Where's Seth?" Kirsten asked.

"He's in the kitchen with Summer." Ryan answered.

"Seth we're leaving, we'll be home around 1." Kirsten called out.

"Have fun and don't hurry home!" Seth answered and Kirsten and Sandy left.

The four friends watched the movies and after the last one Ryan decided he wanted to head to bed.

"Do you mind if I take you home now?" Ryan asked.

"Sure, tired?" Marissa responded.

"Yeah plus I have to get up early tomorrow if I want to help the contractors." Ryan replied standing up.

"Right, I don't want you falling off any roofs." Marissa smiled standing up as well and turned towards Summer.

"Sum are we still on for lunch tomorrow?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah, meet you at the pier around 1?" Summer replied.

"Sounds good, nite everyone." Marissa said and followed Ryan out to the car.

"Cohen have you bought my birthday present yet?" Summer teased.

"Your birthday present, do we have to buy eachother those too? Isn't Valentine's day and Chrismukkah enough?" Seth said trying to sound as serious as possible.

"Cohen!" Summer shouted.

"Yes Summer I already bought you a gift." Seth sighed.

"Really, what is it? Can you give me a hint?" Summer asked excitedly.

"It's a ball." Seth replied and took the DVD out of the player.

"Right a ball, nice try Cohen." Summer replied standing up next to him, "I guess you're not telling me."

"Nope." Seth flately said.

"Fine, well I'm heading home now." Summer said grabbing her purse.

"Home? Why, my parents are out, Ryan's gone. Let's go upstairs." Seth hinted.

"Nah, I'm kind of tired and I'm not in the mood." Summer replied.

"Come on, I'll be quick I promise." Seth said.

"Yeah I know!" Summer replied, "Not tonight Cohen."

"Ok fine, will I see you tomorrow?" Seth asked.

"Of course silly." Summer said wrapping her arms around Seth and giving him a kiss. "Coop and I will probably drop by after lunch, see you then?"

"Sure, good night Summer." Seth said giving her one last kiss before she left.

Ryan pulled into Marissa's driveway, "Are you stopping by tomorrow?" Ryan asked.

"Definitely, I don't want to miss you working your butt off." Marissa laughed.

"I thought you wanted to come over because you said I'd look sexy working." Ryan defended.

"That too, I'll be over some time after Sum and I have lunch." Marissa said leaning over to kiss him good night.

"I love you." Marissa said as she shut the car door.

"I love you too." Ryan replied and then backed the car out of the driveway.

The next day Summer and Marissa met for lunch.

"Coop, do you know what Seth bought me for my birthday?" Summer asked.

"Actually no I don't. Ryan and I went with him to help him out but after a couple hours he told us to go cause he knew what to get you." Marissa replied, "So Ryan and I left and picked him back up later on that day."

"Oh, and he didn't tell you what he bought?" Summer asked.

"No, but I wouldn't tell you what he got anyway." Marissa laughed.

"OK, what did you buy me?" Summer asked.

"Sum I'm not telling you anything, except it's from Ryan and me." Marissa answered.

"From you and Ryan? When you were with Luke the gift was always just from you, Luke never bought me anything." Summer said.

"Ryan is different from Luke, that's why I'm with him." Marissa said.

"That's why you're with him?" Summer asked confused, "It sort of sounds like what you have isn't serious or anything."

"No, Ryan is different from Luke but I'm not with him because of that. I love Ryan and he brings out stuff in me that Luke never did or could. Ryan is exactly who I want and need." Marissa said.

"Ah how sweet." Summer replied, "Coop, I'm happy for you. You do seem so much happier with Ryan than you did with Luke."

"I am." Marissa said.

After they finished eating they headed over to the Cohen house, the side of the house looked like it was hit by a tornado. When they walked in, Ryan was standing in the foyer drinking a bottle of water, once he saw Marissa a huge smiled hit his face.

"Hey." Ryan said as he approached her for a kiss.

"EWW Chino, you're all sweaty." Summer said stepping back away from him.

"Seth's out in the pool." Ryan said. Summer walked out to the backyard.

"Working hard?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah but it's good work, the foreman is taking time to teach me a lot of stuff." Ryan smiled, "I'm really enjoying it."

"Good, shouldn't you get back to work?" Marissa asked.

"Probably, are you sticking around for awhile?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, I'll probably hang out with Seth and Summer for a bit. Maybe take a dip in the pool." Marissa answered.

"Good, I'll talk to you after than." Ryan said and gave her one more kiss before heading back upstairs.

Marissa headed out to the pool where Summer and Seth were.

Ryan was busy for the rest of the day helping out with the construction, Marissa decided to leave around 7. She knew he'd be tired from his long day so she decided to spend the evening with her father.

After a quick bite to eat, Ryan headed to bed. And since Ryan and Marissa weren't planning on doing anything Seth and Summer decided to do nothing as well.

The next day it was Summer's birthday, Summer still had it in her head that everyone was going to LA.

"Hello?" Marissa answered the phone.

"Coop you haven't called me yet, don't you have something to say to me?" Summer hinted.

"Happy Birthday Sum!" Marissa said, "It's only early I would have called you, you know that right?"

"Yes." Summer answered, "I was just calling to see what time you wanted to head to LA today."

"LA?" Marissa asked forgetting Summer asked everyone to go.

"YEah, LA remember." Summer said.

"Oh right, uh, Sum I can't go." Marissa lied.

"WHAT? WHY?" Summer said confused, "It's my birthday Marissa, what else would you have planned besides spending the day with me."

"Ryan and I made plans for the day, I'm sorry Summer." Marissa lied again.

"I can't believe this Coop, this day is going to suck now." Summer complained.

"I'm sure you and Seth can think of something." Marissa suggested.

"Yeah but I always spend my birthday with you Coop, it's like tradition." Summer sighed.

"I know but how many other birthdays were you in a serious relationship?" Marissa asked.

"None." Summer answered still sounding hurt.

"I'm sure Seth has something planned." Marissa said.


	14. Chapter 14

"Maybe not, it's my birthday and my best friend in the world doesn't want to spend it with me." Summer whinned.

"Really Summer I do." Marissa said feeling really bad, "How about we go out and get a razmataz at Java Juice?"

"If that's the best you can do, ok." Summer sighed.

"You go get ready and I'll be over to pick you up soon." Marissa said.

"OK, I think Seth is supposed to come over soon is it ok if he comes." Summer asked.

"Sure, Ryan will come too. We can give you our gift!" Marissa said.

"OK, see you soon." Summer said and hung the phone up.

Marissa called Ryan and she headed over to pick him up. At Java Juice Marissa and Summer found a table and the boys went to purchase the drinks.

"Coop, can I ask you something." Summer asked.

"Sure." Marissa replied.

"Are you guys planning a party or something? Is that why you and Ryan can't go to LA?" Summer asked.

Marissa laughed nervously, "Did you want a surprise party?"

"Um, that depends if you did plan a party or not." Summer replied.

"Sum, did you want a party?" Marissa asked.

"Not really." Summer answered.

"Good cause we didn't plan any parties. But I'm sure your birthday won't be boring." Marissa answered.

"Oh." Summer said.

Ryan and Seth returned to the table with drinks.

"What are you guys talking about?" Seth asked.

"My birthday, I want to know what is happening today." Summer answered.

"You and I are doing something this evening." Seth answered.

"You and I what is it?" Summer wondered.

"You'll see." Seth answered.

"How should I dress?" Summer asked.

"Just casual clothes." Seth answered.

"So it's nothing romantic?" Summer asked.

"Stop asking questions and you'll find out later." Seth said.

"Here Sum, open this. It's from me and Ryan." Marissa said passing Marissa a present.

Summer smiled and opened it. Summer loved it.

"Thank you, it's all great." Summer said.

"I picked out the shirt, Ryan picked everything else out." Marissa said very proud.

"Wow Chino, it's great. Thank you both." Summer said hugging Marissa.

After about another half hour, everyone left. Seth dropped Summer off and told her he'd be back to pick her up in 2 hours.

Seth picked Summer up and headed over to one of the schools.

"Seth what are we doing here?" Summer asked, confused why he'd take her there.

"You'll see." Seth replied and opened the car door for her to get out.

"This is really strange Cohen." Summer said simply and took his hand as he lead her inside.

They walked towards the a room and on the door it read "Beginner leve cooking classes".

"We're taking a cooking class?" Summer said with little enthusiasm.

"Shoot, you don't like the idea. I though you would." Seth said bummed out.

"No, I actually think it's cute. I'm just surprised. I like the idea Cohen, it's sweet." Summer said reaching out to give him a kiss.

"I remembered you said a while ago you'd like to learn how to cook. We don't have to stay if you don't want to." Seth offered.

"I want to, really." Summer smiled, "This is great, really!"

Summer took Seth's hand and they headed into the classroom.

The teacher started the class off by talking about the importance of good cooking skills and the benefits of learning the skill. She then passed out the list of items they would be preparing to cook during the class.

"Can you believe we're making my favourite meal and dessert?" Summer said happily.

"Wow, isn't that a coinsidence." Seth smirked.

"You did this didn't you?" Summer smiled, "You asked the teacher to do this didn't you?"

"Well maybe." Seth answered.

Summer gave him a hug, "This is the reason why I love you."

"I love you too Summer, Happy Birthday!" Seth replied.

After the class was finished, Seth and Summer took their meals back to the poolhouse. When they walked in Seth had the whole room filled with Sunflowers, Summer's favourite flower. He had a table set up, with a bottle of champagne waiting for them.

"OMG this is beautiful, when did I tell you Sunflower's were my favourite?" Summer asked.

"I don't think you ever told me, but I knew anyways." Seth smiled and took their meals over to the table, "Are you hungry now?"

"I'm starved." Summer answered.

Seth placed their meals onto plates and poured himself and Summer a glass of champagne.

"Who would have thought I'd be able to cook." Summer laughed as she finished eating.

Seth smiled at Summer and passed her over a box. She looked up at him and took it into her own hands. She opened it up to reveal a beautiful white gold ring.

"Uh Seth it's beautiful." Summer said almost speechless.

"I know what this may look like but I'm not proposing, we're too young for that." Seth said.

Summer sighed of relief, "I'm sorry you just scared me for a second there."

"Summer these past months that I've spent with you have been incredible." Seth started, "I can't believe you're really in my life. I know that you were scared about everything and I know you may have scaraficed a lot for this relationship."

"Seth!" Summer said tearfully.

"This ring is a promise ring and I know what it normally entails but I want it to mean that I promise to be the best man I can be to you. I want it to mean that I promise to respect you always and treat you the way you deserve to be treated." Seth said almost crying, Summer was already crying.

"I love you Summer." Seth said.

"I love you too, thank you." Summer said and pulled Seth into her for a kiss.

Inside the main house Ryan was lying on the couch watching a ball game on tv when Marissa came in.

"Hey." Marissa said sitting down on the single seat.

"Hey, I thought you'd be over earlier." Ryan said sitting up.

"Sorry, my dad took me shopping." Marissa said happily.

"Did you get anything?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, some new clothes, a pair of shoes and this new purse." Marissa smiled moving next to Ryan, "You like?"

"Um, yeah, it's very nice." Ryan said not knowing what else to say.

"Thanks, hey I bought you something too." Marissa said passing him a small bag.

"Really? What is it?" Ryan asked.

"Open it." Marissa smiled.

Ryan opened the bag and pulled out a new leather bank for his wrist.

"Hey this is great, but you didn't have too." Ryan said.

"I know but I wanted to. Look on the inside." Marissa said.

Ryan looked at the inside and read the engraving, "I love you Ryan, Marissa."

"Thanks. I love you too." Ryan said and gave her a kiss.

"So are Seth and Summer out in the poolhouse?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah they haven't come in though." Ryan replied.

"I wonder what he got her." Marissa said curious.

"I would guess jewellry." Ryan joked.

"You wouldn't say." Marissa joked back, "Are the Cohen's home?"

"Sandy and Kirsten are gone away for the night." Ryan answered.

"Really!" Marissa said crawling over on top of Ryan.

Summer and Seth were lying in bed, Summer was resting her head on Seth's chest and Seth was running his fingers through Summer's hair.

"Cohen I think that was the best time yet." Summer moaned.

"It was pretty amazing wasn't it." Seth answered.

"So what's next?" Summer asked.

"I though we'd stay in bed all night." Seth said gentally pulling Summer's face up to his face to kiss her.

"That sounds nice but I really need some water, is there any in the poolhouse?" Summer asked.

"No, but I can run into the main house and get you some." Seth offered.

"I'll come with you." Summer said and reached for her clothes.

Seth and Summer walked into the house and found Marissa and Ryan making out on the couch.

Seth closed the door pretty hard, making Ryan and Marissa jump.

"Hey guys!" Marissa said getting up, "Summer how was your birthday?"

"So nice, you want to see what Cohen got me." Summer said walking over to Marissa and Ryan.

She reached out her hand to show Ryan and Marissa the ring Seth gave to her.

"Is that what I think it is?" Ryan asked giving Seth a disapproving look.

"What do you think it is man?" Seth replied.

"An engagement ring?" Ryan said.

"No, it's a promise ring. But we're not ready to promise eachother we're going to get married, so it's a promise of our relationship and how we're going to treat eachother." Summer smiled and gave Seth a kiss.

"Summer it's beautiful." Marissa said admiring the ring.

"It is isn't it, you know what it sort of reminds me of?" Summer said not thinking.

"What?" Marissa asked.

"The ring Luke gave to you for Christmas, remember." Summer said and stopped for a second to think, "I guess I really shouldn't have brought that up."

"Why Ryan know's Luke and I dated for a long time." Marissa said putting her hand on his knee.

"Yeah it's no problem." Ryan said feeling bad that he's never once given her anything.

"What are you guys doing tonight?" Summer asked.

"Ryan and I were going to play some video games, I'm going to try and win this time." Marissa said.

"Well we're going to head back to the poolhouse, see you two in the morning?" Summer asked, "Coop are you staying here tonight?"

"I don't know yet." Marissa answered.

"Well I'll talk to you tomorrow anyway." Summer said and both left the living room.

"I knew he'd buy her a ring." Marissa said.

"Yeah, it looks kind of expensive." Ryan said.

"It does, so you want to play now?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah." Ryan answered and turned the game on.

The next few days went by and the weekend to go to the Nana's wedding was approaching.

Summer and marissa were out shopping for dresses to wear to the wedding.

"What do you think about this one?" Marissa asked.

"No, not a dress for old, religous peoples wedding." Summer said, "Hey what about this one. it's perfect for you."

Summer held up a crimson silk blend red strapless dress.

"Really? Perfect for me?" Marissa asked surprised.

"Well it's not something you'd normally wear but it'll look hot on you." Summer replied.

"I don't think it's right for the wedding." Marissa answered.

They continued looking through the dresses.

"Sum, this one is perfect. You have yo buy it, 50 off." Marissa suggested.

"Coop is that a Vera Wang?" Summer asked excited.

"You know you're designers." Marissa laughed. She passes Summer a red poly lace overlay, speghetti stap coktail dress with a bow sash.

"I love it Coop!" Summer said taking the dress, "I have to have it."

Marissa and Summer continued looking for Marissa's dress.

"Sum what about this one?" Marissa asked holding up a sweetheart neckline, sleeveless, vertical ruffle down front, silk, empire waist, two-teired, assymmentic hem dress.

"Coop!" Summer said, "It's incredible, just perfect for you."

Summer reached out to admire the dress.

"I know! It's perfect isn't it!" Marissa smiled and they headed to the checkout.

"Coop we're going to look so hot at this wedding!" Summer said as they walked out of the store.

After they purchased their dresses, they headed for supper. They were meeting Seth and Ryan at a cozy restaurant over looking the Orange County hills and ocean. They were seated in the back corner.

"I've never eaten here before Sum, it's really pretty with the glass walls." Marissa said admiring the scenery.

"The food is amazing too Coop." Summer said looking at the menu.

Marissa studied the menu and after about 10 minutes she started looking around for Ryan and Seth. "Where is Ryan and Seth?"

"They'll be here, don't worry!" Summer said.

"It's unlike them to be so late, we were like 10 minutes late ourselves." Marissa said, "You wanna call Seth's cell?"

"Coop!" Summer sighed, "Ok."

Summer dialed Seth's number.

"Hello?" Seth answered.

"Where are you, your like 20 minutes late." Summer asked, "Coops worrying."

"We're just walking in now." Seth replied and hung the phone up.

"They're here." summer told Marissa.


	15. Chapter 15

Ryan and Seth noticed Marissa and Summer in the back and walked up to join them.

Ryan looked like he had just seen a ghost, Marissa started to worry.

"Ryan? Are you ok?" Marissa asked as he sat down.

"Yeah I'm fine." Ryan said distantly.

"You sure?" Marissa asked again. As she was talking she noticed Seth motioning her not to mention it again, so she stopped talking.

"I'm fine." Ryan answered as the waitress approached and passed Ryan and Seth a menu.

"Can I get anyone here a drink?" The waitress asked.

"I'll have an iced tea." Summer said.

"Same with me." Marissa replied.

"I'll have a root beer." Seth asked.

"Just water for me thanks." Ryan said quietly.

Marissa looked over at Seth with a worried look, Seth just shook his head to tell her not to worry.

After they ate Summer told Marissa she was going to go with Seth. Ryan decided he'd leave with Marissa then.

Marissa got Summer's dress out of the car for her as Ryan crawled into the passenger seat. When Marissa got in she quickly started the car.

"Do you want me to drie you home?" Marissa asked softly.

"Actually, is your dad home?" Ryan asked, finally looking Marissa in the eyes.

She got a sick feeling when their eyes met. She couldn't tell what was wrong but she definitely knew something was wrong.

"I don't know for sure but he's normally out with Hailey around this time. We can check." Marissa offered and looked at him for approval. He nooded and slowly reached his hand out for hers.

She smiled at him and accepted the gesture by taking his hand into hers.

Jimmy wasn't home so Marissa pulled into her driveway and they headed up to her room.

Ryan sat down on her bed, Marissa hung her keys up and put her purse down then made her way to the bed. She crawled behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Ryan, I know something is not right. I'm not going to ask you to tell me what it is but I want you to know I'm here for you." Marissa said and kissed his neck.

Ryan closed his eyes and ran his hands over Marissa's, which were still wrapped around his waist.

"Thanks." Ryan said.

They continued to sit exactly that way for the next few minutes.

"My brother got out of jail." Ryan said softly.

Marissa was stunned, "He did? Did he contact you?"

Marissa continued keeping her arms around Ryan, Ryan felt at ease finally with them around him and Marissa sensed it.

"He's with my mom, they came to the house today." Ryan said.

"You saw your mom? That must have been tough." Marissa sympathized.

"They bought a small house not far from Newport," Ryan said, "mom said she finally has a stable job and Trey is doing factory work."

"Really, that's a good thing right? You'll be able to keep in touch with them." Marissa offered.

"They want me to move in with them, be a family again." Ryan said quietly.

Marissa took her arms off of Ryan and sat next to him, she was shocked.

"Are you moving in with them?" Marissa asked.

"I don't know what to do." Ryan answered.

"That's a tough situation." Marissa informed.

"I was actually hoping you could help me." Ryan said looking up at her.

"Umm," Marissa started, "I don't know how Ryan."

"I don't even know where to begin thinking about it. My mom and brother are my biological family you know but the Cohen's have been so great to me over the last year." Ryan said.

Marissa jumped up and left the room. She returned a few minutes later with 2 drinks, a pen and a pad of paper.

"What are you doing?" Ryan asked as she drew lines on the paper.

"We're going to make 2 pro and con lists, one for your mom and brother, the other for the Cohens." Marissa said, "Maybe it'll help."

Ryan layed down on the bed and Marissa sat next to him, back against the head board.

They spent the next 4 hours discussing the pros and cons of each family.

At 11, Ryan finally knew what to do and he was feeling so much better.

Ryan leaned over and kissed Marissa.

"What was that for?" She asked.

"For helping me out." Ryan said before kissing her again.

After a little while of making out, Ryan asked Marissa if her dad was home yet.

"Yeah, he's gone to bed." Marissa answered, "He's a really heavy sleeper, his alarm clock hardly ever wakes him up."

Ryan pulled Marissa back down towards him and they began pulling each others clothes off.

After two hours, an amazing love making sessions and cuddling time, Ryan took off home.

Ryan went straight to bed as soon as he got home. He woke up early, he was finding it pretty hard to stay asleep.

He made his way to the kitchen to grab some breakfast.

"Hey Ryan, how did you sleep?" Sandy asked. He had just gotten back from the beach.

"Not well." Ryan answered.

"I guess your mom's offer has been on your mind." Sandy said.

"Yeah, I spent a lot of time with Marissa talking about it last night." Ryan stated.

"Really, did you decide what you want to do?" Sandy asked putting his newspaper down.

"Actually I have." Ryan answered.

"So are you staying with us?" Sandy asked.

"I called my mom and Trey this morning, I'd rather tell you all at the same time." Ryan answered.

"Ryan we just want you to know that even with your mom back, we'd love for you to stay with us. But we want you to be happy too, so we'll respect what ever you want to do." Sandy offered.

"Thanks." Ryan said, "I asked Marissa to be here as well, is that ok?"

"Yeah sure, we love Marissa." Sandy said, "I'll go tell Kirsten Dawn and Trey are on their way over."

A few minutes later Marissa arrived at the Cohen's. Ryan answered the door and they went to sit down in the living room to wait for Trey and his mom.

"Hey let's play a video game, it'll take your mind off everything and maybe it'll relaxe you." Marissa suggested.

Ryan set the game up, they both were zoned right into it and didn't hear Dawn and Trey arrive.

"Hey Ry." Dawn said entering the room with Kirsten, Sandy and Trey.

"Hi." Ryan said stopping the game.

Ryan and Marissa stood up.

"Uh, mom this is Marissa my girlfriend." Ryan informed, "Marissa, my mom."

"It's nice to meet you Ms. Atwood." Marissa said leaning in to give her a small hug.

"Well your beautiful, I can see why my son likes you." Dawn said.

Marissa looked over at Ryan and Ryan gave her one of his half smiles.

"So how long have you two been together?" Dawn asked Marissa.

"Umm, almost a year but we were apart for a couple months during." Marissa replied.

"Oh, I see." Dawn said.

"Trey you remember Marissa don't you?" Ryan asked trying to break Marissa and his mothers conversation.

"Yeah, hi." Trey said reaching out to shake her hand.

"Hi." Marissa said taking her hand back after the shake. She was feeling a little uneasy but she was going to stay for Ryan's sake.

"Why don't we go into the other room so we all can sit down." Sandy suggested.

Everyone followed Sandy and took a seat.

Ryan sat quietly for a few minutes. He looked from person to person trying to find the words to start with. He took one more look at Sandy then his mother before he began talking.

"You all know that I don't really say much and when it's about the way I feel it's extremely hard for me." Ryan said.

"It's ok Ryan, take your time." Marissa whispered at him and reached out and took his hand into hers.

"Last year when Sandy and Kirsten took me in, it was hard for me, it felt like I was entering a whole new world." Ryan said, "I was afraid of life before I came here. I didn't believe that I'd achieve any of the things I dreamt about when I was young."

Ryan paused for a few seconds gathering his thoughts, no one else spoke and sat quietly till he began again.

"When the cops arrested us Trey, who would have thought it would be the best thing that could ever happen to me. I now realize I can do what ever I want to do, I can look forward to the future and I'm not afraid anymore."

"Mom I love you but when you walked out on me a year ago I felt betrayed and abandoned." Ryan said.

"I did it for you baby." Dawn said almost in tears.

"I lost the last bit of trust I had left for you. I don't think I can go back to the way things were; your boyfriends and your alcohol is way too much for me to handle any more." Ryan said softly.

"I've changed Ry, I have." Dawn said.

"I've heard that so many times mom, and I don't believe you ever will." Ryan said.

"But Ry I have I swear it." Dawn begged.

"Mom I spent too many days and nights taking care of you, I want to work on my own life now and I don't think I can do that with you and Trey." Ryan finally said, "I can't leave here, the Cohen's have treated me like their very own son and I love them all like my family. I don't want to loose everything they worked so hard to give me."

"But Ryan, you're my son. You should be with your mother." Dawn said.

"You didn't want me as a son last year, you left me in their care. They are my legal guardians now." Ryan said, "I still want you in my life, I just can't be with you."

Seth walked into the living room.

"What's going on here?" Seth asked.

"Nothing Seth, wait for us in the kitchen." Kirsten said.

"Wait is something wrong? Ryan are you leaving?" Seth asked, "Did you decide to move out?"

"Seth Kitchen now." Kirsten said and pointed for him to leave.

"Ok fine don't tell me then." Seth said leaving the room.

Dawn looked hurt, "I guess we should go then."

"Why don't you stay for awhile. We'll all catch up?" Sandy asked.

"I have to get going, unpack and stuff." Dawn said.

"Mom, I'm sorry." Ryan offered.

"I understand Ryan and I'm the one who should apologise for being such a horrible mother." Dawn said looking at her sun.

Trey came over to give his brother one last good bye.

"You probably made the best choice but I'll miss you at home." Trey said grabbing Ryan's hand before leaving.

Dawn and Trey quickly left, Ryan stayed sitting on the couch thinking about what just happened. He felt horrible but he did what was in his heart.

Sandy approached Ryan and Marissa, "We're happy you're staying, and Ryan."

"Yeah?" Ryan asked.

"We love you like our son." Sandy said.

Ryan looked up at him, "Thanks."

After Dawn and Trey left Sandy, Kirsten, Ryan and Marissa went to find Seth.

"I guess you're leaving again." Seth said while chomping on his cereal.

"Actually no, I'm staying." Ryan said tapping Seth on the back.

Seth swollowed his food, "Man your staying for real?"

"Yes Seth, Ryan's not going anywhere." Kirsten smiled.

"I want you guys to know I'm not staying with you because of your money but because I finally feel like I'm part of a real family here and I'm really liking it. I do love you guys for everything that you've done for me." Ryan informed.

"We know, the minute you joined our family you wanted a job and you went out and got one." Sandy joked, "We love having you part of the family."

The phone rang and Kirsten answered it. She laid the phone down and turned towards Marissa.

"Marissa what are you doing this weekend?" Kirsten asked.

"Nothing I think, why do you need me to help with something?" Marissa answered.

"No, that's Palm Springs Spa on the phone and I've been trying to get into it for almost ever. They have some cancellations and can fit me a some friends in. I was going to ask Julie but this will give us the chance to get to know each other better. Summer can come too. I can spend some quality time with my 2 son's girlfriends." Kirsten smiled.

"That sounds amazing, I'll definitely go and Summer will want to to." Marissa replied happily.

"It'll be good, then the next weekend we're off to New York for the Nana's wedding." Kirsten said and picked the phone back to book the weekend.

When she hung the phone up she asked Seth for Summer's number to call and ask her.

"Hello?" Summer answered.

"Hi Summer this is Kirsten, Seth's mom." Kirsten said.

"Hey Mrs. Cohen, what's up?" Summer asked.

"Well I just came across an opportunity to go to the Palm Springs Spa and I asked Marissa to come along, she is. I was hoping you'd join us to." Kirsten said.

"Really, OMG I'd love to." Summer said, "When are we going?"

"This weekend. I'll rent a limo to drive us there and back, it'll be fun." Kirsten said.

"Thank you so much for inviting me, this is going to be so cool." Summer said and they both hung the phone up.

"Is she going?" Seth asked.

"Yes she is." Kirsten replied.

"My mom and my girlfriend going away on a weekend together, scary!" Seth said, "Do I have any say in this?"

"None." Kirsten said, "Besides I'm sure she won't have any stories to tell me, oh wait I have some stories to tell her."  
Kirsten laughed.

"Ryan do you know how bad this weekend is going to be." Seth said, "Stop your girlfriend from going and maybe mine won't go."

"Actually I think it's cool they're going away together. Besides it'll give us some Seth Ryan time." Ryan said.

Sandy looked at them, with a look "What about me?"

"Well, Seth Ryan Sandy time." Ryan corrected himself.

"Ryan aren't you afraid of what my mom might tell Marissa?" Seth asked.

"She has no growing up stories to tell about me, I'm pretty much safe." Ryan laughed.

"Well I have to head to work and so do you Sandy." Kisten said grabbing her work she brought home with her.

"Yup I'm on my way out, have a good day boys and Marissa." Sandy said leaving the kitchen.

"I'm calling Summer, maybe I can talk her out of going." seth said about to leave the room.

"You won't be able to Seth, she loves that place more than shopping." Marissa warned.

"A man's got to try." Seth said and left.

"You don't mind me spending the weekend with Kirsten do you?" Marissa asked wrapping her arms around Ryan.

"No, I think it's great." Ryan smiled, "Guys don't go to these things do they?"

Marissa laughed, "Are you worried I'll find someone else?" Marissa teased.

Ryan looked her in the eyes and leaned in to kiss her, "I know you won't be looking for anyone else."

"I can't with your mom around." Marissa joked.

"I guess not." Ryan said not realizing Marissa refered to Kirsten as his mother.

"What are you, Seth and Sandy going to be doing this weekend?" Marissa asked kissing his neck.

"Picking up girls!" Ryan said, "Going to the strippers? Who knows!"

"Sounds like fun." Marissa smiled, "So what do you want to do today?"

"Let's hit the beach, maybe Summer and Seth will come along too." Ryan suggested.

A couple hours later Marissa headed over to Summer's house. Once there the house keeper let her in and Marissa headed up to Summer's bedroom.

"Hey Coop." Summer said.

"Hey, are you busy?" Marissa asked standing in the doorway.

"No, I was just checking my email." Summer replied and started towards her bed to sit down. Marissa joined her.

"Can you believe we're going to PSS (Palm Springs Spa) tomorrow." Summer said happily.

"It was cool of Kirsten to invite us." Marissa said.

"Can you believe Cohen tried to convince me not to go. He said it'll doom our relationship. What's up with that?" Summer stated.

"I know I was over there earlier and he's freaked out about you and his mom telling stories and stuff about him." Marissa laughed, "He's paranoid."

"It'll be a fun to hear stories about Cohen but it'll be a cool girls weekend." Summer said.

"I can't wait! So Sum I was headed to the mall, want to come?" Marissa asked.

"Shopping? You know I'll come." Summer said jumping up to grab her purse.

Summer and Marissa spent hours at the mall. They bought new bikini's, skirts, shirts and sunglasses all for the trip.

Marissa eventually dropped Summer off at her house at 8.

"Coop today was totally fun spending the day with just you, you know not having the guys around." Summer stated.

"I know, I miss this." Marissa agreed.

"Yeah so do I, I'll see you tomorrow on our way to PSS!" Summer said and grabbed her bags before leaving the car.

Marissa looked at the time and debated heading over to the Cohen's to visit Ryan.

She decided to head home instead. When she got home she washed her face, brushed her teeth and got dressed for bed.

She sat down on the couch and picked the phone up to dial Ryan's number.

"Hello?" Ryan answered.

"Hey, it's me." Marissa said.

"Hey, I was hoping you'd come over." Ryan stated.

"Sum and I were out all day shoppin and I only just dropped her off, so I decided to just come home. Are you mad?" Marissa asked.

"No of course not." Ryan replied.

"I was thinking we could talk on the phone. We've never done that before." Marissa suggested.

"Actually, I kind of like the sounds of that." Ryan stated.

They spent hours on the phone. Ryan opened up to Marissa more then he ever had before. When they finally hung up, they both felt closer to eachother and extremely satisfied.


	16. Chapter 16

Marissa got up early, cleaned her room and packed her bag. The limo was picking Kirsten up in an hour, she wanted to get there before then.

"Dad can you drive me over to the Cohen's? I want to see Ryan before I go." Marissa asked.

"Sure kiddo but I thought Kirsten has a limo arranged to pick everyone up?" Jimmy asked.

"She does but it's picking Kirsten up first, So'll just go with her." Marissa replied.

Jimmy drove Marissa and wished her a good time. Marissa knocked on the door and Kirsten answered.

"Marissa hey, you know we were going to pick you up." Kirsten said letting her in.

"Yeah I know but I thought I'd come see Ryan before we left." Marissa said as she laid her bags down.

"Oh sweetie, he's not here. He's gone sailing with Seth and Sandy. Did he know you were stopping by?" Kirsten asked.

"Oh no he didn't, when's the limo getting here?" Marissa replied.

"About a half hour, I have a few calls to make before we go, so make yourself at home ok?" Kirsten said just as her cell went off.

Marissa nodded and headed outside. She looked out into the ocean which was scattered with boats. She sat down on the edge of the pool and dangled her feet in the cool water. After about 10 minutes she got up and went back into the house.

She went into the tv room to watch tv before leaving. The house phone rang, Marissa could hear Kirsten on her cell so Marissa decided to answer it.

"Hello?" Marissa answered.

"Hi may I speak to Ryan please?" The female asked.

"I'm sorry Ryan's not home right now but would you like to leave a message?" Marissa asked a little curious why a girl was calling him.

"Yeah, can you tell him Theresa called. I don't think he has the number to call me back with." Theresa said.

"Theresa! Hi it's Marissa." Marissa said.

"Um Marissa, hi. How are you?" Theresa replied stunned.

"I'm good and you?" Marissa replied.

"Oh could be better, I needed to speak with Ryan." Theresa said.

"Ryan's gone sailing with Seth and Sandy, you could talk to me but I'll understand if you'd rather not." Marissa suggested.

"Actually I'd rather talk to Ryan but don't worry it's nothing like the news I had before." Theresa stated.

Ok, I'll get the number and I'll leave it for him in the poolhouse." Marissa said grabbing a pen and paper.

It's 904-523-7671. I'm staying with my aunt and uncle in Chino." Theresa said.

"Ok I'll put it our right now. I hope everything turns out ok." Marissa offered, "Bye Theresa."

Marissa took the note and put it on Ryan's bed so he wouldn't miss it and returned to the house.

"Who was on the phone Marissa?" Kirsten asked, "Thanks for answering it, I was in the middle of an important call."

"Uh, it was Theresa looking for Ryan." Marissa informed, "I think there is something wrong."

"Reall, I hope she's ok." Kirsten said concerned.

"Yeah, I just brought the message out to the poolhouse so Ryan would get it." Marissa said.

"Well the limo should be here soom." Kirsten said as the boys walked in.

"You haven't left yet?" Snady said as he walked into the kitchen.

"Soo, the driver should be here any minute." Kirsten replied

"Good day Marissa." sandy said and Seth nodded her way as he entered and sat down on the chair.

"Hey I thought Kirsten was pcking you up at home." Ryan said as he approached her to give her a kiss.

"She stopped by to see you before she left, but you were sailing." Kirsten stated.

"Sorry I didn't know." Ryan said smiling at Marissa.

"It's ok, it was a last minute idea." Marissa stated.

The limo arrived and honked the horn.

"Our ride's here, let's go Marissa." Kirsten said before giving a kiss to Sandy and one to Seth, "Have a good weekend Ryan."

"Oh before I go, Theresa called and wants you to call her. I wrote down the message and put it on your bed. Love you and I'll see you on Sunday." Marissa said quickly before hugging him and left behind Kirsten.

"Theresa? Are you still talking to her buddy?" Seth questioned.

"No, I haven't talked to her in a while." Ryan answered.

"I bet Marissa's spooked about Theresa calling." Seth hinted.

"Nah, she's fine." Ryan replied.

"Just wait till she comes home SUnday." Seth stated and headed outside.

Ryan headed to the poolhouse to get the message. When he got it he immediately dialed the number.

"Hello?" Theresa answered.

"There it's me, what's going on?" Ryan asked.

"Hi Ryan, can you come down to Chino?" Theresa asked.

"What's wrong Theresa. Are you ok?" Ryan asked.

"Physically I'm fine, emotionally not so fine." Theresa replied.

"What is it Theresa" Ryan asked again.

"It's my mom, she's in the hospital. Eddie's away working and I need someone." Theresa began crying.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Ryan said and hung the phone up.

Ryan quickly packed a bag and went to ask Sandy for the car. Sandy handed him the keys, a cell phone and some money.

"Be careful and call when you get a chance, ok?" Sandy said, "Are you sure you don't want me or Seth to go with you?"

"Thanks, but it's ok. I'll call you." Ryan said and headed out the door.

Ryan arrived in Chino around 2 and headed straight to Theresa's aunt and uncles place. She was sitting on the step alone when he pulled up.

"Hey how are you doing?" Ryan asked as he approached her.

She had been crying and Ryan went into hug her.

"She has cancer Ryan and she dying." Theresa cried in his arms.

"Your mom is a fighter, she's strong and don't forget that." Ryan said brushing the hair from her face.

Theresa's cousin came out of the house.

"Ryan Atwood? Is that you?" Nat said.

Ryan stood up to greet Nat, "Hey man, it has been awhile."

"Yeah too long, we should get together soon and hang out like old times." Nat suggested.

"Yeah man." Ryan replied but knew he wouldn't anyway.

Nat took off a few minutes later and Ryan returned his attention to Theresa.

"Have you been to see your mom lately?" Ryan asked softly.

"I saw her last night." Theresa replied.

"Not today?" Ryan asked.

"No." Theresa answered.

"Come on, let's go. I just have to call Sandy quickly." Ryan stated.

There was no answer at home so Ryan left a message saying he got to Chino ok and that he would call again later.

The girls arrived at the spa around 4:30. They were brougt to their suit after taking time to book their various spa treatments for the weekend.

"I can't wait to have a message, Cohen sucks at giving them. He nearly murdered me last time he tried." Summer stated, "And Coop we haven't gotten a pedicure since like Chino arrived in town."

"You call Ryan, Chino?" Kirsten laughed.

"Yeah, I don't think he minds it." Summer replied.

The phone ryan ans Kirsten got up to answer it. It was the restaurant getting a booking time for dinner, which was decided for 7.

"I'm going to go down to the pool for an hour, anyone want to come?" Marissa asked.

"No sweetie, I'm going to unpack and give Sandy a call before dinner." Kirsten replied.

"Sum?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah let's check it out." Summer agreed and grabed her new bikini and followed Marissa out of the room.

"Coop you ok?" Summer asked.

"yeah why wouldn't I be?" Marissa responded.

"The call you answered earlier, it's spooking you out isn't it?" Summer said.

"No, I just hope Theresa is ok." Marissa replied.

"You're afraid they're spending the weekend together." Summer teased.

"Sum can we please talk about something else?" Marissa defended.

After an hour of swimming and lying by the pool Marissa and Summer headed back to the room to get ready for dinner. Kirsten was on the phone with Sandy when they walked in and Marissa headed straight for the shower.

At 7 the three girls headed down to the restaurant and was seated.

"So what are the boys doing this weekend while we're away?" Summer asked Kirsten.

"I think Seth and Sandy are shopping tomorrow. Sandy is determined to pick out the perfect gift for the Nana and he's determined that him and Seth can do it alone." Kirsten laughed.

"What about Chino? What is he up too?" Summer asked knowing Marissa was probably curious but would never ask.

"Ryan? Oh he went to Chino earlier. He called Theresa back and left immediately, Sandy hasn't spoken to him since but he did call and leave a message saying he arrived ok." Kirsten said.

"Did he say why he was going to Chino?" Marissa asked.

"No he said he was going to see Theresa, that was all." Kirsten replied feeling really bad for Marissa.

"I'm sure there is a really good reason why he went to Theresa." Marissa said.

"Ryan has Sandy's cell phone, if you want to call him I can give you the number." Kirsten said as she pulled out a pen a a piece of paper from her purse and passed Marissa the number, "Take it just incase."

"Thanks." Marissa said and put it into her purse.

"Coop don't worry about it, Ryan loves you and he wouldn't do anything to hurt you." Summer said holding Marissa's hand.

Ryan took Theresa to the hospital to see her mother. When they got to her room Ryan told Theresa he'd wait outside the room.

Theresa went in and came out a few minutes later to tell Ryan her mother wanted to see him.

"Hey." Ryan said entering the room, it was dark and Theresa's mom looked really ill.

"Ryan, how are you?" She asked smiling as he entered.

"I'm ok." Ryan said feeling really horrible for her.

"I'm really happy you're here with Theresa right now, she needs you." She stated.

"I'm going to do what ever it takes to help out, do you need anything?" Ryan asked.

"No just company." She answered, "Will you two stay with me? We can watch tv together like we used to."

"Of course." Ryan said.

"Ryan can't stay for too long, he has to drive back to Newport tonight." Theresa said.

"It's ok, I'll stay in Chino tonight." Ryan offered.

Theresa looked at Ryan strange, "Won't Marissa get mad?"

"Marissa's gone away with Kirsten and Summer for the weekend and I don't think she'll mind." Ryan said sitting down, "What do you want to watch?"

Ryan and Theresa stayed at the hospital until visiting hours were over. Theresa and Ryan were starving so they went to get something to eat. They went thru a drive thru and parked the car to eat.

"So where did Marissa go for the weekend?" Theresa asked.

"They went to Palm Springs, some spa or something." Ryan replied.

"Wow must be nice, so Kirsten took them?" Theresa asked.

"Yeah, Kirsten thought it would be nice to get to know them better." Ryan answered.

"So you and Marissa are good?" Theresa asked.

"Yeah we are, well her mom and Mr. Nichol were trying to break us up. They are moving to Boston and we went along with them for a weekend, they even got Cat involved. They told her they would pay for her education if she was able to break Marissa and me up." Ryan laughed.

"Your kidding, it didn't work though obviously." Theresa stated.

"No, so Marissa is living with her dad again." Ryan said.

"I can't believe how tanned you are Ryan, I've never seen you that dark before." Theresa stated.

"Yeah actually Seth, Summer, Marissa and I were in the Bahamas not to long ago." Ryan said.

"Really, who would have know Ryan Atwood as the type to travel. You've changed, where else are you going? Paris, Italy?" Theresa joked.

"Actually the Nana is getting married next weekend, so we're all going to New York." Ryan replied.

"I guess your fear of heights isn't as bad as it used to be?" Theresa laughed.

"Yeah, no it's still bad, I hate every minute being up on a plane." Ryan laughed.

"I'm really happy for you Ryan, you're life is really changing." Theresa said.

"I guess it is isn't it." Ryan agreed.

"Are you happy?" Theresa asked seriouslly.

"Happy? Yeah I guess I am, who would have though huh?" Ryan replied.

"Yeah who would have thought." Theresa agreed.

They stopped talking and finished eating.

Ryan and Theresa finished eating and continued to sit in the car.

"How are you and Eddie doing?" Ryan asked after a while of silence.

"We're taking things slow, we're kind of trying to gain eachothers trust back. Me for taking off to you and him with his temper." Theresa answered.

"Has he been treating you ok?" Ryan aked.

"Better than ever." Theresa replied.

"Where are you staying tonight?" Ryan asked, "At your mom's or back with your aunt and uncle?"

"At my mom's, we'll be more comfortable there." Theresa said.

"Let's go." Ryan said as he started the car.

When they arrived at Theresa's Ryan stayed out on the porch to call Sandy.

"Hello?" Sandy answered.

"Hey it's Ryan." Ryan said.

"You on your way home?" Sandy asked.

"If it's ok, Theresa's going through some things, so I was going to stay with her so she's not alone." Ryan said.

"Ok, is Theresa going to be ok?" Sandy asked.

"Eventually but I'll talk to you when I get home." Ryan said.

"Call me tomorrow." Sandy suggested.

"I will." Ryan hung up and went into the house.

"Theresa do you mind if I grab a shower?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah sure, I'll grab you a towel and I think Eddie has some clothes here, I'll grab you a shirt and a pair of shorts." Theresa said heading upstairs.

She returned with a towel, clothes and blankets for the couch.

"Hee you are, I'll make the couch for you." Theresa said handing him the towel and clothes.

"Thanks, I'll be right back." Ryan said and headed for the shower.

Theresa started making up the couch for Ryan to sleep on and his cell phone started ringing. Theresa debated on answering it but decided to in case something was wrong.

"Hello?" Theresa answered.

"Is Ryan there?" Marissa asked surprised to hear a girl answer Ryan's cell phone.

"He's in the shower." Theresa answered.

"Really, in the shower?" Marissa stated.

"Can I get him to call you back?" Theresa asked.

"No, never mind." Marissa said and hung up.

Theresa looked down at the phone confused why Marissa would hang up like that. She sighed and finished making Ryan's bed.

Ryan came out and sat down on the bed Theresa made for him.

"Last time you slept there you disappeared for months." Theresa stated.

"I'll be here in the morning." Ryan laughed.

"I know, well I'm exhausted so I'm going to bed. Good night Ryan." Theresa said.

"Good night Theresa." Ryan replied crawling into his blankets.

Theresa started up the stairs but realized she forgot to tell Ryan something so she returned to the living room.

"Ryan?" Theresa said.

"Yeah?" Ryan replied.

"Your cell phone rang while you were in the shower, it was Marissa. I think she got the wrong idea when I answered and told her you were in the shower because when I asked if she wanted you to call her back she said no." Theresa said, "I just thought you should know."

"Thanks for telling me." Ryan replied.

"I hope I didn't cause a fight." Theresa said.

"No once I tell her why I'm here everything will be ok." Ryan said not really believing it himself.

"OK good night." Theresa replied and headed to bed.

Ryan stayed in Chino until Sunday morning when Eddie returned. He arrived back in Newport just before noon.

"Your back, how's Theresa doing?" Sandy asked.

"Not good, Eddie got back today so hopefully that'll cheer her up a bit." Ryan said.

"I was afraid Eddie was the problem." Sandy said.

"Actually her mom is in the hospital dying of Cancer." Ryan informed.

"Oh that is horrible, Theresa really needed you this weekend. I'm glad you were there for her." Sandy said.

"Where's Seth?" Ryan asked.

"He had some sailing lessons to teach today, he should be back in an hour or two." Sandy answered.

"What time is Kirsten expected back?" Ryan asked.

"Around 7 or 8." Sandy answered, "I should tell you Marissa knew you were in Chino."

"Yeah she called your cell on Friday night, Theresa answered it because I was in the shower. From what Theresa told me, Marissa's not to happy with me." Ryan stated.

"Once you tell her the situation, she'll understand." Sandy said.

"Yeah I hope so." Ryan replied.

Kirsten arrived home around 9, the three boys were playing video games when she walked in.

"Hey how was your weekend?" Sandy asked giving her a kiss.

"It was great, those two girls are wonderful and so much fun." Kirsten said smiling at Ryan and Seth.

"We know how to pick our ladies don't we Ryan?" Seth said hi-fiving Ryan.

"I just hope mine will still speak to me." Ryan stated.

"She's a little confused but I don't think much damage is done." KIrsten said.

"Is it ok if I borrow the car to go talk to her?" Ryan asked.

"Can I offer some advice?" Kirsten asked.

"Shoot." Ryan replied.

"Let her come to you." Kirsten said.

"Really?" Ryan replied.

"Really." Kirsten answered.

"Ok Seth, another game?" Ryan asked.

"Nah, I'm going to call SUmmer." Seth said getting up.

Eventually Ryan was the only one left in the room so he headed out to the poolhouse.

To his surprise, Marissa was waiting for him when he walked in.

"Hey." Ryan said as he saw her.

"Hey." Marissa replied.

"How long have you been out here?" Ryan asked, "Why didn't you come inside?"

"Just a couple minutes, I didn't feel like going inside." Marissa replied.

"How was your weekend?" Ryan asked sitting next to her.

"It was nice, Kirsten is so much fun. Sum and I love her." Marissa said.

"She said the same things about you and Summer." Ryan replied.

They sat there quietly for a few moments until Ryan finally spoke up.

"I know you're mad a me but the reason I was in Chino all weekend is because Theres's mom is really sick. She's in the hospital with cancer." Ryan stated, "Eddie was away working until this morning and she really wanted someone around to talk to."

"Ryan I'm not mad at you, really." Marissa said, "I don't understand why Theresa was answering your phone really late at night while you were in the shower though."

"We were at the hospital until visiting hours were over and we went to get something to eat. We sat in the car for hours talking. When you called she was making up the couch for me to sleep on." Ryan answered.

Marissa studied his facial experessions, "Nothing, absolutely nothing happened between you and Theresa this weekend."

"Nothing." Ryan replied.


	17. Chapter 17

Marissa continued studying Ryan's expression.

"Look Marissa have I ever lied to you before?" Ryan asked.

"Well you didn't tell me about what happened between you and Theresa while we were broken up till Theresa confessed she was pregnant." Marissa stated.

Ryan gave her a glare, "I'm sorry about that, I thought we were past that?"

"We were, we are. It's just you were alone for 2 nights with your ex-girlfriend, can't you see where I'm coming from. It was just weird that it all happened the sametime I went away for the weekend." Marissa said.

"Listen Marissa I'm not going to fight with you about this. I went to Chino because my oldest friend needed me. I stayed with her as a friend, that is it. I didn't do anything wrong. If you don't believe me that's your problem." Ryan yelled getting pissed off cause Marissa seemed like she wasn't listening.

Marissa was surprised he yelled at her like that, he had never been so angry with her before. She grabbed her stuff and left.

Ryan felt horrible after he sat down and thought about the way he yelled. He realized he would have acted no different if he was in Marissa's place. He looked down at his watch and realized it was too late to go to her house and too late to call cause he didn't want to wake her father up.

In the morning he walked in the Cohen's kitchen and found Seth and Summer at the table.

"Good Morning." Seth said.

"Morning." Ryan mumbled.

"Hey Chino, have you talked to Coop since we got back?" Summer asked.

"We talked yesterday but it ended in a fight and she left. I kind of yelled at her." Ryan informed.

"You yelled at her, shouldn't it be the other way around?" Summer asked.

"I know, I feel horrible about it." Ryan replied, "I just tried calling her but she's not taking my calls."

"That sucks man, how are you getting yourself out of this one?" Seth asked.

Ryan shrugged, "I don't know, maybe I'll head over there later."

"That might work, bring flowers. The ladies love flowers." Seth suggested.

"What are you guys up to today?" Ryan asked.

"Shopping." Summer said cheerfully.

Ryan patted Seth on the baack, "I hope you enjoy that. I'm hitting the shower."

Ryan returned to the poolhouse to take his shower. Around 3 RYan headed over to Marissa's but first he stopped by the flower shop. When he arrived Jimmy answered.

"I know she doesn't want to see me and I'll completely respect you if you don't let me in. But I owe Marissa a huge apology. Can I go talk to her?" Ryan asked.

Jimmy really liked Ryan and he knew his daughter really cared for him, so he let Ryan in, "She's in her room."

Ryan reached her bedroom door, he could hear music playing inside. He quietly knocked on her door.

"You can come in dad." Marissa called out through the door.

Ryan opened the door and slowly entered.

"What are you doing here? I told my dad I didn't want to talk to you." Marissa said angry.

"I know but I realized you deserve a huge apology. I'm not really great at this but I did buy you flowers." Ryan said with a really sad look on his face.

"Ryan," Marissa started, "Why did you sleep with her so quickly after our breakup?"

"Why? I was feeling alone, betrayed and confused because everyone in my life at the time didn't trust or believe in me. Theresa showed up and it felt really good to have someone I trusted and trusted me in my life. I didn't want her to leave cause I didn't feel lost and alone with her there. We both were going through things and I guess we let our emotions get the better of us." Ryan admitted.

"Are there still feelings there?" Marissa asked.

Ryan smiled and took her hand, "Yeah I really care for Theresa but only as a really great friend. I want to be with you." Ryan said quietly.

marissa smiled at him, "Good."

Ryan laughed and pulled her in for a kiss.

"So absolutely nothing and I mean nothing happened this weekend." marissa asked.

"Absolutely nothing, well unless you consider me making out with some woman from down the street." Ryan joked.

"Ryan I don't think this is the best time to be joking aobut that." Marissa said pulling away from him.

"I know but believe me, I wouldn't do anything to hurt you." Ryan said, "Besides I'm sure if I did, Kirsten would throw me out of the house. you really left an amazing impression with her."

Marissa smiled, "I'm glad. I've always know Kirsten but this weekend we really got to know eachother."

She leaned in and kissed RYan.

"Does this mean we're ok now?" Ryan mumbled.

Marissa didn't reply but she pulled him down on top of her. After a few seconds of kissing, Ryan rolled over and pulled Marissa on top of him and continued kissing.

Ryan's hand wandered up the back of Marissa's shirt, making it slide up her body. The other hand rested on the very lower part of Marissa's back, resting partly under her pants.

As things started getting pretty heavy, Jimmy knocked on the door and walked in. marissa quickly jumped off ryan and fixed her clothes.

"I uh.." Jimmy started, "I umm, wanted to see if everything was ok with you two but I'm now assuming things are fine."

"Yeah, uh Ryan and I are good. Sorry dad." Marissa said.

Jimmy gave them a look, "Just keep the door open Marissa."

Jimmy left and went back downstairs.

Ryan flopped down on the bed and let out a sigh.

Marissa laid next to him on her side and rested her hand on his stomaach. She softly moved her hand around, sliding it lower down and slyly made her hand disappear under his shirt. she started caressing his body and he closed his eyes. She slowly moved her lips down until they reached his neck, she lightly brushed her lips across it until she reached his earlobe.

"Marissa..." Ryan whispered enjoying every touch she made.

"Yes?" She whispered back running her lips across his.

"We need to stop, your dad......" Ryan started but got distracted by her kisses, "Your dad's just downstairs."

"Can we go somewhere?" Marissa asked giving him the look, "Maybe the poolhouse?"

"Kirsten and Sandy are home and they're probably out by the pool." Ryan replied wanting Marissa badly.

"Ryan!" Marissa sighed resting her head on Ryan's chest.

"Believe me, I know!" Ryan replied.

Marissa's cell began to ring, marissa reached over Ryan to get it.

"Hello?" Marissa answered.

"Coop, what's up?" Summer asked cheefully, "Are you and Chino still fighting?"

"No, he's here right now, why?" Marissa asked.

"There's this party or dance thing tonight on the pier, its some new thing they're trying out. Cohen and I were thinking about checking it out, if you guys wanted to." Summer said.

"SOunds fun to me, I'll talk to Ryan and call you back." Marissa said and hung up.

"Who was that, Summer?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, there is this thing happening at the pier tonight, a party or something. Wanna go?" Marissa asked.

Ryan hesitated but agreed to go since he felt bad about their fight.

Marissa called Summer to tell her he agreed and made plans to meet at the Cohen's at 8. Ryan headed hom for dinner and a cold shower.

Marissa arrived around 7:30 and entered the poolhouse. Ryan looked over at her and smiled.

"You look amazing." Ryan said giving her a kiss.

She was wearing a red halter top with a black flared skirt.

"I didn't know if I should wear a dress shirt or not." Ryan stated, he had on a light blue collard shirt with black pants.

"You look great." Marissa said, really thinking he looked hot.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you when I got home." Ryan hinted.

Marissa smiled, "Did the cold shower work, I had to get one myself."

"Not as well as I hoped." Ryan admitted

Marissa smiled at him, "Summer and Seth are probably waiting."

They headed inside and found Seth and Summer playing video games.

"You two ready?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah, I can't believe you got Ryan to go to this." Seth admitted.

"Why? What kind of party is this?" Ryan asked.

"It's a dance man." Seth answered.

"You didn't mention dancing." Ryan said to Marissa.

"Come on Ryan, we'll leave whenever you want." Marissa offered.

"I'm not dancing." Ryan stated as he walked towards the door.

The four arrived at the pier; there were tons of people around. The music was blasting and tables were lined up over looking the ocean.

They found a table close to everything and sat down comfortably.

Marissa and Summer had people stop to talk to them during the first few minutes they were there.

"It's funny, all these people come over to say hi to you and Marissa and they never even acknowledged me of Ryan." Seth stated.

"Who cares Cohen, it's not like they matter much any how." Summer said.

The song by Black Eyed Peas 'Let's get retarded' started playing.

"Coop! We have to dance!" Summer said jumping up. Marissa followed her out to the dance floor.

Marissa returned after 2 songs, Summer had pulled Seth out to the dance floor.

"She loves to dance." Marissa said.

"I can tell." Ryan replied.

"Do you want a drink?" Ryan asked.

"Sure." Marissa replied.

Ryan got up and went to get the drinks for everyone. He returned and passed the drinks out.

"Thanks man." Seth said, "I'm quenched."

"Yeah thanks Chino." Summer said.

"Summer, your dad is here." Seth stated.

"My dad, really? Where?" Summer asked.

"Over by the corner, see him?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, let's go talk to him." Summer said pulling Seth up.

When they took off Marissa got up and made herself comfortable on Ryan's lap.

"You're not having fun are you?" Marissa asked.

Ryan wrapped his arms around her waist, "Why I don't look like I'm having fun?"

"You look bored." Marissa said giving him a kiss.

"Not so much now." Ryan answered.

They began kissing but stopped when they heard people surrounding them. Kirsten, Sandy, Jimmy and Hailey were standing around the table.

"Hey." Was all Ryan could spit out.

Marissa got up and got a chair of her own. She sat next to Ryan and her father, but she couldn't look her father in the eyes since he had caught her twice in one day making out with Ryan.

"So the Nana's wedding is the weekend." Jimmy started.

"Yeah, I still can't believe my mother is getting married." Sandy said.

"What time is our flight on Thursday?" Marissa asked.

"11:55 I believe." Sandy answered.

"Marissa maybe you shouldn't go." Jimmy said.

"What? Why?" Marissa asked.

"Because I think it might be a bad idea, where are you staying?" Jimmy asked.

"The Hilton." Kirsten replied, "What's the problem Jimmy?"

"Marissa and Ryan are getting too close lately and I think this trip will cause them to get even closer." Jimmy stated.

"Dad, that's not fair." Marissa said looking over at Ryan.

"Don't worry Jimmy, Seth and Ryan will be sharing a room and Marissa will be with Summer." Kirsten stated.

"Dad the Nana invited me." Marissa begged.

"I wasn't going to tell Sandy and Kirsten this but I caught them in some compromising situations lately." Jimmy said.

"Compromising situations Jimmy? Can you remember what we were doing at their age." Sandy asked.

Jimmy and Kirsten looked at each other, "That's what scares me."

"Dad you've only walked in on us kissing, nothing more, just kissing." Marissa said.

"Come one Jimmy, they're good kids and we can trust them totally." Kirsten said

Jimmy looked at Ryan and his daughter, "You're right. Ryan like I told you before, I do like you and I think you're good for my daughter. Just don't make me regret it."

"I understand." Ryan said feeling completely uncomfortable. A slow song started to play and Ryan used it as an escape, "Want to dance?"

Marissa looked at him funny but agreed by taking his hand.

"Excuse us." Ryan said as they headed away from the table.

Marissa looked at Ryan funny while he took her in his arms for the dance, "You wanted to dance, are you ok?"

"It was the only way I could free myself from that conversation." Ryan replied.

"I'm sorry Ryan; I don't know what got over him." Marissa said.

"It's ok, I understand but it's really uncomfortable." Ryan said taking Marissa into his arms even closer.

"Have you talked to Theresa today?" Marissa asked.

"No, I was thinking about calling her tomorrow." Ryan replied, "I was thinking about driving to Chino on Wednesday."

"Oh, are you staying the night?" Marissa asked trying to sound ok with the idea.

"No, I was thinking maybe you'd like to come along." Ryan said.

"Maybe but if I don't I'm happy you asked." Marissa replied.

Ryan kissed her but was interrupted by Summer.

"Do you two realize you're just standing in the middle of the dance floor?" Summer asked.

Marissa and Ryan laughed and walked back to the table with Summer and Seth.

"Mom, dad hi." Seth said, "Aunt Hailey, Mr. Cooper."

"Hi Mr. Cohen and Mrs. Cohen." Summer said, "Hi Mr. Cooper and Hailey."

"Hi are you two having fun?" Kirsten asked.

"Not really, I thought there would be more people. We're thinking about hitting a movie. Chino? Coop? Interested?" Summer asked.

Marissa looked at Ryan and he nodded, "Yeah lets go."

They got to the theatre and everyone wanted to see different movies. Each wrote a name of a movie on a piece of paper and Summer picked one from Seth's hand.

"Looks like Coop gets her pick, Little Black Book." Summer said cheerfully.

Ryan groaned and followed Seth to purchase the tickeds.

"We could be buying tickets for Bourne Supremacy or something cool like that." Ryan said to himself and Seth just nodded in agreement.

Seth and Ryan bought the tickets and some snacks and took their seats.

"Hey can we all switch seats?" Summer asked, "I want to sit next to Coop."

Summer was seated next to Seth who was seated next to Ryan. Ryan and Seth looked at each other before switching seats with Summer and Marissa.

Marissa and Summer talked non-stop until the movie started. Once the movie started Ryan reached over and slid his hand into Marissa's. She looked over at him with a smile and gave him a quick kiss before cuddling into him.

After the movie they headed to Jamba Juice.

"So Marissa did I hear your dad say you couldn't come to New York?" Seth asked.

"What?" Summer shrieked, "Coop you can't not go, you can't leave me with…." She looked at the two boys, "These two."

"I think he agreed after." Ryan stated.

"What's up with that Coop?" Summer asked.

"Uh he sort of walked in on me and Ryan this afternoon." Marissa replied.

"He walked in on you and Chino, doing the deed?" Summer laughed.

"No, not quite." Marissa answered.

"Really Ryan, did he kick your ss?" Seth asked.

"No he told up to leave the door open." Ryan replied with a 'mind your own business' look.

"Thank god Coop, this weekend wouldn't be fun without you." Summer said as Marissa's cell started to ring.

"Hello?" Marissa answered.

"Hey kiddo where are you?" Jimmy asked.

"At Jamba Juice with Ryan, Summer and Seth." Marissa replied.

"How was your movie?" Jimmy asked.

"Fine. Dad are you checking up on me?" Marissa questioned.

"Sort of." Jimmy informed, "But I wanted to tell you that I'm staying with Hailey tonight, she's watching a friends boat. But Kirsten knows and Ryan is expected home with Seth and you're to sleep at home."

"Ok daddy, is that all?" Marissa asked.

"That's all, see you in the morning." Jimmy said and hung the phone up.

"Sum my dad is sleeping out, want to stay over?" Marissa asked.

"Sure, maybe you guys can stay." Summer suggested.

"Kirsten knows my dad isn't going to be home, so Ryan and Seth have to get home together." Marissa replied.

"They can come over and leave later, together." Summer said.

"My lady here is brilliant." Seth said wrapping his arm around Summer.

Marissa smiled. They all headed back to Marissa's place, it was 11.

"I'm going to go change." Marissa said heading up to her room.

Seth and Summer were nestled together on the couch, Ryan was feeling awkward so he headed up to Marissa's room. He knocked on the door.

"Hold on." Marissa called out and a few seconds later Marissa opened the door. She was wearing pj pants and a tank top.

"Seth and Summer are getting close down there and I was feeling out of place." Ryan smiled.

Marissa looked down and saw Seth and Summer cuddled up on the couch, "Hey guys we'll be down in a little while."

"Ryan made himself comfortable on Marissa's bed and Marissa cuddled up next to him.

"Ryan can you do me a favour?" Marissa whispered.

"What's that?" Ryan asked.

"Can you give me a massage?" Marissa asked.

Ryan agreed and started rubbing her back. He was sitting with his back against the headboard and Marissa was sitting in front of him. There was still so much sexual tension lingering between them from the afternoon.

"How does that feel?" Ryan asked as he continued massaging.

"Amazing!" Marissa moaned.

Ryan continued massaging but randomly kissed her neck as he massaged.

After a few minutes of that Marissa moved her body back so she was totally against Ryan.

Ryan guided his hands and arms over Marissa's body to her stomach. Marissa rested her head against Ryan's chest and shut her eyes.

Ryan's hands slid Marissa's tank top up revealing her bare stomach. He gently ran his hands over her bare skin pulling Marissa in closer to him. Marissa kissed the side of Ryan's neck and Ryan pulled Marissa's shirt up over her head.

Marissa turned her body around to face Ryan and they began kissing.

Marissa reached out and pulled his shirt and wife beater off.

"I was thinking about this all day." Ryan revealed.


	18. Chapter 18

"So was I." Marissa replied before they continued to kiss.

Ryan slowly sat up still kissing her and lowered Marissa down, so she was laying on the bed.

He studied her body with his kisses until Marissa started unbuckling Ryan's pants.

"Ryan!" Seth called out.

Ryan sighed and called back out, "What is it Seth?"

"I'm leaving, are you coming because I think you should." Seth called out.

Marissa laughed.

"Can you wait a little while longer?" Ryan replied frustrated. Marissa started kissing him again.

"No, mom called and she gave us a half hour and that was 15 minutes ago." Seth said.

Marissa reached for her shirt and Ryan's shirts and passed Ryan his. They put them on, neither saying a word.

Ryan headed to the door, while Marissa sat down on the bed.

"I'm sorry." Ryan said stopping before walking out of the room.

"It's not your fault." Marissa replied walking up to him, "We're just having bad luck in this department."

Ryan sighed and leaned in to kiss her but was pulled away by Seth.

"We have to go, I'm sure you two had enough kissing time. By the way Ryan you should do up your belt before we get home." Seth said pulling Ryan down the stairs.

"Maybe it's enough time for you." Ryan mumbled.

Marissa laughed and followed them down the stairs; Ryan stopped to do up his belt and walked to the door.

"Call me tomorrow Ryan?" Marissa said as the boys left.

Marissa shut the door and went to sit next to Summer on the couch.

"You look really frustrated Coop." Summer said.

"Oh, um, no." Marissa sighed.

"When was the last time you two did it?" Summer asked.

"Um, I don't know. I guess the night we went shopping." Marissa answered.

"Coop, that was almost 2 weeks ago." Summer said.

"More like a week Sum." Marissa said.

"Why didn't you two just have it?" Summer asked.

"Sum!" Marissa said and Summer gave her the 'spill it' look.

"Because Seth said they had to go." Marissa informed.

"But you two were getting it on, weren't you?" Summer asked.

Marissa laughed and nodded.

"Your sexually frustrated, every time you've started you have to stop." Summer said, "I bet I know what Chino will be doing when he gets home."

Summer started to laugh and Marissa threw a pillow at her.

"So Coop, who's better in bed? Ryan or Luke?" Summer asked.

"Sum, that is private." Marissa said.

"Come on." Summer begged.

"I only slept with Luke once Sum, so it's hard to compare." Marissa replied.

"Well what was the first time with Ryan like?" Summer asked.

"Amazing, he was so sweet and gentle." Marissa answered.

"Have you ever……..you know." Summer asked.

"Um, I can't believe you asked that." Marissa said.

"Well???" Summer replied.

"With who?" Marissa asked getting red.

"Either but from what you told me before, I'm sure you didn't with Luke." Summer said.  
"With Ryan." Marissa answered quietly and embarrassed, "Have you?"

"Of course, Cohen really improved after the first couple of times." Summer said, "He's actually incredible now."

They both laughed.

"With my dad watching us I don't think Ryan and I will ever get to do it again." Marissa said.

"Sure you will Coop, in New York. We are sharing a room and I won't mind leaving for a while or spending the night with Cohen." Summer said.

"Don't you think the Cohen's will be expecting that and check up on us?" Marissa asked.

"They did let us go away to the Bahamas with Chino and Cohen without supervision." Summer said.

Marissa nodded, "So you don't think they'll be strict about it?"

"I'm saying I don't think they'd check up on us." Summer said.

Summer sat quietly for a moment, "You know what would be fun."

"What?" Marissa asked.

"We should go shopping for new lingerie. I bet nobody's surprised Chino with sexy underwear before." Summer suggested.

"Marissa smiled, "Good idea, I'm sure after the wedding nobody will be wondering what we're up to."

"Maybe I should buy something too." Summer smiled.

"Ryan is going to Chino on Wednesday. Want to go shopping then?" Marissa asked.

"Hey Grease is on." Summer stated, "Wait, you said what?"

""We'll go shopping on Wednesday." Marissa replied.

"Chino's going to Chino, why?" Summer asked.

"To see Theresa and check up on her mom." Marissa replied.

"He's going back; didn't you two just have a fight about that?" Summer asked.

"It was a mis-understandment. Theresa is his friend and she needs him right now." Marissa stated.

"He wasn't really there when you needed him at your mothers shower." Summer said immediately regretting saying it.

"Wow." Marissa said stunned.

"Coop, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Summer said sincerely.

"No you shouldn't have but I understand." Marissa replied.

"Are you mad at me?" Summer asked.

"No, I'm tired though." Marissa said.

"Where should I sleep? In your room like we used too? We can talk about boys!" Summer asked.

"Yeah, it'll be like a slumber party." Marissa agreed.

Marissa and Summer crawled into bed. But instead of gossiping and talking about boys they turned on the tv to watch Grease. But they both fell asleep not long after.

Summer and Marissa got up early to watch cartoons.

Jimmy walked in around 10.

"Good morning girls." Jimmy said closing the door.

"Hey Mr. Cooper." Summer said.

"Hey daddy." Marissa said, "How was your night?"

"Good, what time did you two get home?" Jimmy asked.

"Around 11, Seth and Ryan came over for a little while before they went home." Marissa said knowing he'd find out what time Seth and Ryan got home.

"Ok, what are your plans for today?" Jimmy asked.

"I don't know, I don't have any plans." Marissa said.

"Not seeing Ryan today?" Jimmy asked.

"I don't know but daddy I don't see Ryan every day." Marissa answered   
Jimmy and Summer looked at Marissa funny. Just then there was a knock on the door and Jimmy opened it.

"Boys, you're here early." Jimmy said.

"Hey Mr. Cooper, I hope you don't mind." Ryan said.

"No its ok, come in. The girls are right here." Jimmy said.

"Cohen? Chino? What's going on." Summer asked.

"We were thinking about going to the water part, well I wanted to and begged Ryan to go. So now we're here to beg you two to go." Seth said.

Ryan nodded and smiled at Marissa but didn't sit next to her because he felt uncomfortable with her father.

"Sounds fun!" Summer said.

"Yeah I haven't been in years." Marissa replied.

"Well I have to go home to get clothes and my swim suit." Summer said.

"It's on the way." Seth said, "We'll stop and get it."

"I have to go get dressed." Marissa said heading up to her room.

Once she was ready they got into the car and headed to Summer's place. Seth and Summer got out and headed inside.

Ryan turned around in his seat to face Marissa.

"Good morning Ryan." Marissa said.

"Sorry about not speaking at your house but I felt weird with your dad." Ryan said.

"Its ok but he's not here now so can I have a good morning kiss?" Marissa asked.

Ryan leaned out of his seat to kiss Marissa, "Good Morning."

"Guess who called me last night." Ryan said.

"Who? Theresa?" Marissa replied.

"Luke, he's going to be in town." Ryan stated, "he gets in today and going back Sunday."

"Really does he want to get together with you?" Marissa asked.

"He wanted to get together with everyone but he doesn't want to make you feel weird or anything." Ryan said.

"When does he want to get together? You're going to Chino tomorrow and we're going to New York on Thursday." Marissa said.

"He suggested getting together tonight. Hang out and he mentioned a party." Ryan said, "Do you want to see him?"

"Uh, I don't know. I guess." Marissa replied.

Seth and Summer returned and they began driving.

"Coop, Luke's coming back today." Summer said.

"Ryan just told me, are you guys going to hang out with him tonight?" Marissa asked.

"I told Cohen I would if you do, you're my best friend and I know how difficult the whole thing is on you." Summer said.

"Actually I think I want to." Marissa replied.

"I hope you and Luke can rekindle your relationship." Summer said.

Ryan looked back at her.

"I mean friendship! Luke and Marissa are so over and you and Marissa are like the best couple." Summer corrected herself.

"I can't believe Chino and Luke are friends, they hated each other, god Luke nearly killed him." Summer stated.

The 4 spent the day enjoying the water and sun. They decided to head home around 4. On the way home Luke called Seth's cell for Ryan.

"Hey man, you in town now?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah I got here a few hours ago. I stopped by your house." Luke said.

"We were at the water park but we're on our way home now." Ryan replied.

"Did you ask Marissa about tonight?" Luke asked.

"Yeah she's into it. We're dropping the girls off shortly, what time should we meet?" Ryan said.

"Around 7?" Luke replied.

"Cool, meet us at the house." Ryan suggested.

"Sure see you then." Luke hung up.

Seth pulled up to Summer's house.

"I'll pick you up Sum, around 6:30?" Marissa asked.

"Sure, see you guys later." Summer said getting out of the car.

Next house, Marissa's.

"Are you sure about tonight?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, Luke and I can start over. This time as friends." Marissa said.

"Ok, you'll meet us at our place then." Ryan asked.

"Yeah, thanks for the ride Seth." Marissa said getting out of the car.

Marissa got a shower and had a small bite to eat before picking Summer up.

"Coop are you sure you want to hang out with Luke after everything that went on." Summer asked.

"I can't stay mad at him forever Sum. Besides I already told him I forgave him." Marissa replied.

"When?" Summer asked.

"When I saw him in the hospital." Marissa answered.

Marissa and Summer arrived at the Cohen's around 6:45. They headed inside. The boys were sitting in the tv room.

"Luke, hey." Summer said and approached his for a hug.

"Summer hi." Luke replied putting his arms around her.

"hey." Marissa smiled.

Luke approached her, "I'm glad you agreed to come, you look beautiful as always."

"Thanks, so do I get a hug too?" Marissa smiled and Luke gave her a hug.

Luke returned to his seat, Summer had sat down next to Seth and Marissa found a seat beside Ryan. Ryan smiled at her and rested his hand on Marissa's knee.

"What's Portland like?" Marissa asked, "Do you like it there?"

"Uh, its so different than Newport but the people are cool." Luke answered.

"So what brings you back to Newport, you missed me didn't you?" Summer teased.

Luke laughed, "I haven't see my mom or brothers since the move and it's the last weekend before school starts. I figured it was the last time for awhile."

"Any ladies in your life?" Seth asked.

"Sort of, I mean we're just getting to know each other right not, nothing serious or definite yet." Luke replied.

"What's her name?" Marissa asked.

Luke started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Marissa responded.

"It's sort of funny and you guys probably won't believe it but her name is Larissa." Luke replied.

"Larissa man, really? Why didn't you just find another Marissa?" Seth said and everyone looked at him.

"What, it's funny that he screwed it up with Marissa now he's dating a girl named Larissa, you know Marissa/Larissa, its like the same name people." Seth said.

Luke disregarded his comment, "So you're all going to New York. What's the occasion."

"The Nana's wedding, Seth's grandmother." Marissa replied.

"You all are going, that should be fun." Luke said.

Everyone nodded not knowing what to say.

"So how has your summer been? Ryan said he was back in Chino for a while and Seth was gone too but after that?" Luke asked.

"We went to the Bahamas for a week, which was so cool." Summer said.

"All four of you, just the four of you?" Luke asked surprised.

"Yeah, Sum, Seth, Ryan and I. It was really amazing. It's so beautiful there." Marissa said squeezing Ryan's hand as she remembered their nights there.

"Wow that's great." Luke said.

"Yeah, it was the first time I was anywhere out of the country, actually on a plane." Ryan replied.

"Coop and Ryan went to Boston with Caleb and Ju…" Summer started but stopped herself realizing she shouldn't bring up Julie's name.

Ryan stood up immediately, "Why don't we head to the Crab Shack, I'm starving."

Everyone followed Ryan's move. At the Crab Shack everyone was at ease and the conversations went smoothly.

Some of Luke's old friends came in, the one's he still talked too.

"Luke, hey you heading to the party?" One guy asked.

"Yeah you know it." Luke said greeting all of them.

"Did you hear the polo championships are in Portland this year? You may have a few borders for the week." Another said.

"That's if you make it there without me on the team." Luke joked.

"Yeah right man. So we'll see you at the party." They said and left.

At the party Ryan found his way to the keg and claimed a seat on the couch like he had done over a year ago. Seth and Summer were chilling in the kitchen making drinks. Marissa and Luke spent most of the night talking together with some of their old friends.

Ryan was feeling just as uncomfortable as he did before. After a couple hours, Marissa only acknowledged him once and no one else talked to him, so he got up to leave.

Marissa noticed him stand up and lipped, "Where are you going?" Ryan let her know he was leaving and started for the door.

"I'll be right back Luke." Marissa said and followed Ryan outside.

"Ryan wait." Marissa called out and caught up to him. Ryan turned around.

"Stay." Marissa said.

"I really don't want to, this is your thing not mine." Ryan said.

"But I want you here." Marissa replied.

"Something tells me you'll be just fine without me here." Ryan stated.

Marissa studied him for a moment, "Are you mad that I'm talking to Luke?"

"No I'm not mad that you're talking to Luke." Ryan said opening the Ranger door.

Marissa grabbed his arm as he started to get in the car which made him turn and face her.

"Ryan." Marissa said looking straight into his eyes, "Please don't leave like this."

"Ryan pulled away from Marissa's grip and got into the car and shut it. Marissa didn't understand what just happened so she turned and headed back to the house.

Ryan drove home and went right to bed. As he laid in bed he thought about what just happened and how he acted. He knew Marissa didn't know why he was angry and he didn't really know why either. He knew nothing was happening between Marissa and Luke but it drove him crazy seeing her with him.

He picked up the phone and dialled her cell number. He waited about 8 rings before hanging up. He wasn't sure if she was avoiding his call or if she didn't hear it ring. He decided to go see her before he headed to Chino the next day.

Back at the party Seth and Summer got pretty loaded. After about 2 hours from when Ryan left, Marissa and Luke drove them home.

"Do you want to go speak to Ryan?" Luke asked. They had already dropped Summer off and now they were dropping Seth off.

"Actually I will, I can drive myself home because I left my car here." Marissa said.

"I was wondering if we could hang out tomorrow." Luke said.

"Well Ryan is going to Chino so sure, around 1?" Marissa replied.

"Yeah ok great, I'll pick you up at your dads." Luke said and Marissa headed to the pool house.

Ryan was asleep, so Marissa decided to leave instead of waking him up.

The next day Summer called Marissa around 10.

"Sum, how are you feeling today?" Marissa asked.

"I took two Tylenols and drank a huge glass of water before I went to bed. So I'm feeling ok today." Summer answered, "Are we on for shopping?"

"I'm meeting Luke today at 1, can we go now?" Marissa asked.

"Great, I'll pick you up in five." Summer said hanging up.

The arrived at the mall around 10:30 and started walking around the mall.

"What happened to Chino last night Coop?" Summer asked.

"He left mad, I don't know what happened or why he's mad." Marissa replied.

"Luke probably." Summer suggested.

"He said it wasn't Luke when I went after him." Marissa replied.

"It probably reminded him of when he first came to Newport. Being at the party he probably felt like an outsider. You were talking to Luke and his friends and Seth was with me, Chino had no one." Summer said.

"But he could have been with me talking to Luke." Marissa said.

"Those guys you were talking to almost killed him, remember the model home?" Summer said.

Marissa thought about it and she felt bad.

"He's probably fine today anyway. Let's go get some sexy lingerie." Summer said pulling Marissa into the store.

Marissa picked out something she normally would never wear but something she figured Ryan would love.

Summer found something really skimpy and sexy and she had to buy it.

They hit a few more stored and around quarter after twelve Ryan called Marissa's cell.

"Hold on Sum, its Ryan." Marissa said stopping, "Hello?"

"Hey, can we get together?" Ryan asked.

"Now?" Marissa said, "I thought you were going to Chino so I made plans with Luke."

"Ok, talk to you later." Ryan said and hung up.

"What happened?" Summer asked.

"He wanted to get together but I told him I made plans with Luke because he was supposed to go to Chino and he hung up." Marissa said.

"Coop, call him back and meet with him. Luke can wait." Summer suggested.

Marissa nodded and dialled his number but Ryan didn't answer.

"No answer?" Summer asked.

Marissa shook her head no.

"Well lets go over there then, call Luke and tell him you'll meet him later." Summer said.

Marissa and Summer headed over to the Cohen's. Once they got there, they knocked on the door and Sandy answered.

"Girls hey, ready for the trip tomorrow?" Sandy asked.

"Yeah just about Mr. Cohen." Marissa said.

"Great! Seth is upstairs and I believe Ryan is still in the pool house but he may have left already." Sandy said.

"Thanks." They both said and headed in separate directs.

Marissa entered the pool house but Ryan had already had already left. Marissa returned to the kitchen.

Summer found Seth still in bed. She went over and crawled into the bed with him and started kissing him.

"No this would be the perfect wake up call if I wasn't so hung over." Seth said wrapping his arms around her.

"Yeah, come on get up." Summer said.

Seth crawled out of bed and they headed down stairs.

"Coop, Ryan already left?" Summer asked as they entered the kitchen.

"Yeah, Seth does he have a cell phone on him?" Marissa asked.

"Well it normally takes my dads, u know the number don't you?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to go call him." Marissa replied taking out her cell phone and headed outside.

"Hello?" Ryan answered.

"Where are you?" Marissa asked.

"On the expressway." Ryan replied, "I thought you were with Luke."

"No, I'm at your place and I wanted to talk and figure this all out. I don't know what is going on." Marissa said.

"I'm on my way to Chino Marissa." Ryan said.

"I know Ryan but when will you be back?" Marissa asked.

"I don't know but I have to pack when I do get back." Ryan said.

"Fine Ryan, why don't you call me when you do want to talk." Marissa said.

"I did but you were busy with some other guy." Ryan said.

Marissa was surprised by his response, "I called you right after you hung up on me Ryan and you wouldn't answer. I called Luke and told him I needed to see you."

Ryan didn't say anything for a few seconds, "I'll try to be home around 7."

"Will you stop by my house?" Marissa asked quietly.

"Sure, I should go cause I'm driving." Ryan said.

"Ok, see you then." Marissa said and hung up.

She returned back to the house.

"Did you guys talk, is he coming back?" Seth asked.


	19. Chapter 19

"No, he's going to stop by tonight when he gets home." Marissa said, "So do you guys want to hang out with Luke and me today?"

"You're hanging out with Luke by yourself, does Ryan know." Seth asked.

"Yes Seth Ryan knows, so do you guys want to hang out." Marissa asked.

"Yeah, I think Ryan would prefer that." Seth replied, "I'll go get a shower."

They met Luke at the pier and they all went for a walk. After, they headed back to Seth's to play some play station. Kirsten ordered supper for everyone and after the dishes were done it was around 6:30.

"I have to head home. Sum, can you drive me?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah sure, Cohen should I come back?" Summer asked.

"Yeah of course, if you want to." Seth replied.

"Ok." Summer said.

"Well Luke I guess I won't see you before you go back so we should say bye now." Marissa said.

"Yeah, well maybe we can get together over Christmas or something." Luke offered.

"Yeah that would be great; it was nice to see you again." Marissa replied.

"I'm glad we were able to get over what happened before. Thank you for forgiving me." Luke said.

"I couldn't stay mad at you forever." Marissa said, "I hope you have a really good year."

"Thanks you too. I hope you and Ryan work everything out." Luke said giving her a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Bye Luke." Marissa said and left.

Summer dropped Marissa off at her house and Ryan was already waiting on her porch for her.

"Thanks Summer, I'm glad you dropped me off because if Luke did it would have made Ryan even madder at me." Marissa said.

"No problem. Make sure you work everything out because our trip to New York will be ruined if you guys are mad at each other." Summer said.  
Marissa grabbed her bags from shopping and headed to the front door.

"You're here early." Marissa said.

"Yeah." Ryan replied.

Marissa unlocked the door, her father wasn't home and she was happy about that.

"You went shopping?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah I was shopping earlier with Summer when you called." Marissa replied.

"How was your day with Luke?" Ryan asked.

"Umm, ok. Seth and Summer were there too. We went to the pier and then back to your place to play video games." Marissa replied walking up to her bedroom.

Ryan followed and sat down on the chair in her room and Marissa sat down on her bed.

"I hate that we're fighting Ryan." Marissa said softly, "I thought about last night and I shouldn't have spent the entire time with Luke and his friends."

"Yeah but I over reacted." Ryan said.

"Obviously it made you angry for some reason, what made you so mad?" Marissa asked.

"I realized you and Luke have so much history and no matter what he did to you, you two have this connection." Ryan said.

"Ryan I don't want to be with Luke, do you know that?" Marissa asked.

"I know, it also made me mad that you were spending so much time with him. You hardly even noticed me." Ryan said feeling childish but it was what made him mad.

"I did, really. I didn't know why you weren't talking to Luke with me. But I talked to Summer about it and she made me realize why you weren't." Marissa said.

"What did she say?" Ryan asked.

"She said that you probably didn't want to talk to them because they nearly killed you in the model home." Marissa said.

Ryan tilted his head, "I figured you didn't want to talk to me because I didn't fit in. I thought maybe you didn't want people to know we were together."

"Ryan, why would you think that? Everyone there last night knows that we're together." Marissa said.

"Everyone there thinks that I got some girl pregnant and moved back to Chino, they didn't know we were back together." Ryan said.

"Ryan I want everyone to know we're together. I'm not ashamed of you in anyway." Marissa said, "There's nothing about you that I can be ashamed of."

Ryan shook his head to disagree.

"Ryan you're the smartest person I know and you're honest and you treat me very good. You're very sexy and I'm in love with you." Marissa said.

"I freak out about things, I find it hard to trust people and I'm not a sociable person." Ryan said.

"That doesn't matter; I'm not ashamed of you." Marissa said.

Ryan sat quietly.

"Ryan, are we ok?" Marissa asked.

"I think so." Ryan replied, "So what did you buy today?" Ryan asked reaching for the bag that she brought in with her.

Marissa grabbed the bag from him.

"What?" Ryan said.

"You can't look in there." Marissa stated.

"Why, what did you buy?" Ryan asked.

"Something you can't see right now." Marissa replied.

"Why can't you show me?" Ryan asked.

"Because, just trust me." Marissa said.

Ryan stood up and tried to steal the bag from her and got it.

"Ryan, please don't look in it, believe me you don't want to see it right now." Marissa pleaded.

Ryan laid the bag down, "Fine I won't look in it but I don't understand what the big deal is."

"Because I bought something for when we're in New York." Marissa said.

"Like what?" Ryan asked curious.

"Just something I bought to wear, it's nothing really. I just don't want to show you just yet." Marissa said.

"Ok, well I should go. Got to pack and get ready for tomorrow." Ryan said, "Besides I don't think your dad will be happy if I'm here when he gets back."

"Ok, that's probably a good idea." Marissa agreed.

Ryan leaned over and gave Marissa a short but sweet kiss, "Sorry about our fight."

"I'm sorry too." Marissa replied and they got up and headed downstairs to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Ryan said giving her another kiss.

"Ok, good night Ryan." Marissa said.

Ryan left and Marissa returned to her room to pack.

Jimmy was taking the girls to the airport in the morning. They were leaving at 9:30 since they had to be there 2 hours before their flight.

The phone started to ring at about 8:30 that morning.

"Coop did you and Ryan work things out?" Summer asked.

"Yeah I think we're ok." Marissa replied.

"Great, what time is your dad picking me up?" Summer asked.

"Probably around 9:30, maybe a little earlier than that." Marissa said.

"Ok, I'll be ready. I'll see you in about an hour." Summer said.

Jimmy packed Marissa's bag into the car and they headed to Summer's house to pick her up. They arrived at the airport just after 10. Jimmy parked the car and he and the girls went inside to meet up with Sandy, Kristen and the boys.

They checked their bags and headed through security. They had and hour and fifteen minutes before their flight left; Kirsten and Sandy found a coffee shop to sit down and wait to board the plane; Ryan, Seth, Marissa and Summer went to look for magazines and stuff to help the long plane ride.

10 hours later they were driving to their hotel.

"We bought tickets to see a play tomorrow night, after the rehearsal dinner." Kirsten said.

"Mom a play, we have to go sit through a musical." Seth whined.

"It's called Stomp, it's supposed to be really good. I think you all will like it." Kirsten said.

"Stomp? I haven't heard of that one before." Marissa said.

"It's a bunch of people on stag making music out of pipes and garbage pails and stuff like that, it will be really good I think." Kirsten replied.

"I'm so tired, I hate traveling." Summer said.

"I know I'm tired too." Seth replied yawning.

Ryan was falling in and out of sleep as they drove to the hotel. Marissa woke him up when the arrived.

Kirsten and Sandy checked everyone in and handed out the keys. The bellhop brought their luggage to each room.

"We are having breakfast with the Nana tomorrow at 10, everyone meet down here at 9:30." Sandy said.

Everyone nodded and headed to their rooms. Everyone was exhausted from the plane ride and getting up early so they all went to bed.

In the morning everyone met in the lobby at 9:30 and headed out for breakfast. They finally got to meet the man the Nana was going to marry. Every one loved him, he was sweet and he really seemed to love Nana.

After breakfast, Kirsten and Sandy left with the Nana and her fiancé for the afternoon and the kids were able to site see. Everyone was too met back at the hotel at 5.

"Where should we go?" Ryan asked.

"Well we can go to Soho shopping; we can probably take a tour up the Statue of Liberty?" Marissa suggested.

"I suggested the tour." Seth replied.  
"That sounds good to me." Ryan replied, "Maybe we can check out the hockey stadium?"

"Sure, let's go." Marissa said taking Ryan's hand.

They did as much as possible before they had to be back at the hotel. They got back and met Sandy and Kirsten in the lobby.

"Do we have enough time after dinner to come back and get showers?" Summer asked.

"Well the show doesn't start till 10, so we'll have plenty of time." Kirsten replied.

"Good because I feel gross, I wish we could shower now." Summer said.

"We have reservations for 6." Sandy said.

Everyone headed out of the hotel and arrived at the restaurant 5:40, luckily they were seated right away. Ryan was intrigued by the entire city; it literally was the city that never sleeps. He could definitely see himself in a city like this.

After dinner they returned back to the hotel around 8, everyone had an hour and a half to get showers and changed.

"So do I have to put a suit on?" Ryan asked Marissa who was ready and waiting in his room.

"I would, I saw Sandy and he was wearing a tie." Marissa replied.

"I hate this dressing up thing." Ryan whined.

"I love it; you look so good in a suit." Marissa said.

"You look pretty good too dressed up, but of course you always look good." Ryan said leaning down to give her a short kiss.

"Thanks." Marissa smiled. There was a knock on the door so Ryan went to open it.

"You almost ready son?" Sandy asked coming into the room.

"Yeah, just have to just put the suit on and I'm ready to go." Ryan said.

"Great, Marissa you look very nice." Sandy complimented.

"Thank you Mr. Cohen." Marissa smiled, "Well I'm going to see what Summer is up to and I'll meet you guys in about a half hour?"

Ryan and Sandy nodded as she left the room. Seth came out of the bathroom just as she left.

"My hair is not working with me today." Seth complained.

"Seth, its hair." Ryan replied.

"It's just I was having such a good hair day and I ruined it." Seth stated looking in the mirror.

"Don't talk like that man." Ryan said.

"Seth go put a tie on, even Ryan is wearing one tonight." Sandy asked.

"Ok, which one?" Seth asked.

Sandy pointed to one and Seth wrapped it around his neck to tie it. A few minutes later the guys were ready. Ryan and Seth headed to the girls room before heading down stairs and once the girls were ready they went down to the lobby to meet Kirsten and Sandy.

The play was over at 12 and they decided to go get a quick snack at a deli across the street before going back to the hotel. They returned to the hotel around 1:30 and everyone retired to bed for a good night sleep. The Nana's wedding was the next afternoon.

"Coop? You asleep yet?" Summer asked.

"Not quite why?" Marissa said sleepily.

"I talked to Cohen today; I'm going to stay in his room tomorrow night so that you and Chino can have this room all to yourselves." Summer said.

"Are you sure we won't get caught?" Marissa asked.

"Have they checked on us the last two nights?" Summer asked.

"No, but that's because we're all so tired. They know we're sleeping in our own rooms." Marissa replied.

"Tomorrow is going to be a long day as well; they'll just assume we're all really tired." Summer said.

"I hope so because if we get interrupted again, I'm giving up on the entire sex thing." Marissa moaned, "Anyways I'm exhausted Sum, let's go to sleep."

At the boys room.  
"Ryan!" Seth said.

"What?" Ryan said turning over.

"Tomorrow night you're sleeping in the girl's room." Seth said.

"What? Why?" Ryan asked annoyed.

"Because Marissa wants to be alone with you, I don't know. Summer told me today that you and Marissa need some alone time so she has to stay in here with me." Seth replied.

"Alone time? For what?" Ryan said.

"Ryan you're not that slow, Marissa wants to be alone in a hotel room with you. What do you think she wants to do, talk?" Seth said sarcastically.

"Oh." Ryan said realizing he was acting somewhat slow, "Seth can we go to sleep now?"

"Good night Ryan." Seth mumbled turning out the lights.

The next day the boys were busy setting up the hall and running errands that needed to be done for the Nana. The girls spent the morning at the Nana's house helping her get ready.

Ryan got to meet Sandy's family for the first time. He had a brother and a sister who Sandy hadn't seen in years. His family wasn't at all like Kirsten's or any other family that lived in Newport Beach. Ryan could tell they weren't wealthy but they seemed content with the life styles they had.

Sandy's brother, Joe, was older than Sandy. He had one son who was in his mid twenties and was married with one child, a 2 year old girl. Sandy's sister, Rebecca, was the oldest of the three. She was married as well and had 2 children, one girl and one boy. Her children weren't at the wedding. Her daughter was away in the middle east helping out in a third world country, her son was finishing his last year of university studying to become a lawyer.

It was almost 3 and the girls just arrived at the court house. The Nana wasn't being married in a church since she was having a very small wedding. The reception was going to be bigger. The Nana and her groom to be friends and other family members were meeting for a reception at 6. They were planning a big celebration.

Summer and Marissa entered the court house and went to sit next to Ryan and Seth.

Ryan smiled at Marissa, "You look…" Ryan paused taking another glance at her, "You look amazing."

"Thank you." Marissa smiled taking his hand into hers.

"You look great too Summer." Seth said as Summer stood next to him.

"Thanks Cohen you look pretty good yourself." Summer smiled.

The wedding march softly played in the background as Kirsten and Rebecca entered the court house, followed by the Nana. Kirsten stood next to Sandy and Rebecca next to her husband as the Nana walked up to her Fiance.

The ceremony didn't last very long. After, everyone went to Central Park for pictures. It was a beautiful day, not extremely hot or humid but comfortable.

The photographer took pictures of the Nana's immediate family which included herself, her new husband, Sandy, Rebecca, Joe and her new step children. There were pictures taken of the Nana and her grandchildren and step grandchildren which included Ryan. Pictures of each person with the newly weds and so on. Kirsten asked the photographer to make copies of all the pictures for her and Sandy. There was one picture taken of Ryan and Seth that she had to have and one of Ryan, Seth, Summer and Marissa that she wanted as well.

Six was approaching so everyone headed to the hall for dinner and the reception. The dinner was delicious and the MC was hilarious. Everyone was having a good time. At around 10 they started playing music and people started dancing. Most of the people there were over the age of 40 and the music that was playing didn't appeal to Ryan, Seth, Summer or Marissa.

"Mom." Seth called out as Kirsten passed the group.

She stopped, "Are you guys enjoying yourselves?"

"We were until now, can we go. We're bored." Seth said.

Kirsten thought about it for a second, "You should ask your dad."

Seth went to look for his father and returned back to the table about 5 minutes later.

"Come on let's head out of here." Seth said reaching out for Summer's hand.

Ryan and Marissa followed them outside to get a cab back to the hotel. Once they got a cab, Seth agreed to sit in the front with the driver and the others sat in the back.

"I was thinking maybe you can stay with me tonight." Marissa said into Ryan's ear.

Ryan kissed her, "I was thinking the same thing."

"Hey get a room!" Summer teases as she saw the two beside her kissing.

The cab ride was about 15 minutes. Seth and Ryan paid for the cab once the arrived at their hotel and got out. A Summer and Marissa headed to their room and Seth and Ryan headed to theirs.

"Coop you ready for tonight?" Summer asked.

"Why?" Marissa asked lighting a couple candles that she brought with her.

"Well it's been like forever since you and Ryan did the deed." Summer said changing into pants and a shirt.

"Sum it hasn't been that long, it's not like we haven't spent alone time together in a while." Marissa said tidying their room up a bit.

"Coop Ryan doesn't care if the room is completely neat, he's a boy." Summer said.

"I know I like it better neat." Marissa replied.

Summer put a couple of things into a small bag, "Ok Coop I'm going to Seth's room now. See you in the morning and have a really hot time!" Summer laughed opening the door.

"You too Sum." Marissa replied looking into the mirror to make sure she still looked ok.

A few minutes later Ryan knocked on her door. She glanced once more at herself in the mirror before opening the door to let Ryan in.

"Hey." He said as he entered.

"Hi." Marissa replied closing it behind him, "Did you have fun today?"

"Yeah, it was cool being part of a family." Ryan said.

"Yeah, you really fit right in today." Marissa said.

"You think?" Ryan asked sitting next to her on the bed.

"I think." Marissa said.

"You looked really good today." Ryan said taking her hand.

"Thanks but you already told me that earlier." Marissa said.

Ryan looked her in the eyes and leaned in to kiss her. They kissed for about a minute and Ryan pulled away.

"When I was at your house the night before we left you said you bought something and you would show me while we were here." Ryan said, "Show me."

Marissa looked at him and smiled a shy smile.

"Where is it?" Ryan asked.

"Umm, I'm wearing it." Marissa replied.

"But you already had your dress before, did you buy another one?" Ryan asked confused.

"No." Marissa replied.

"I don't understand." Ryan replied, "what is it than."

Marissa gave him a sexy look and Ryan smiled.

"You bought underwear for me?" Ryan asked shocked.

"You don't like it." Marissa said sitting back.

"I haven't even seen it yet." Ryan replied.

"But you don't like the idea do you?" Marissa asked.

"I uh, no one has ever bought anything like that to wear for me but I'm sure it looks really good." Ryan smiled and pulled her into him.

"Let me see it." Ryan asked.

Marissa agreed but told him she needed a second. She got up off the bed and went into the bathroom. She removed her clothes and returned back to the room with only her underwear and bra on. Ryan's smile grew ear to ear and she could tell he really, really enjoyed what he was seeing.

"You like?" Marissa asked doing a small little pose for him.

"Wow." Was all Ryan could say.

Marissa smiled and sat down on his lap, "You don't think I'm a little crazy for buying this?"


	20. Chapter 20

"No, I kind of think its cute you were willing to do this but it wasn't your idea was it?" Ryan asked.

"Why would you ask that?" Marissa wondered.

"Because this isn't your thing." Ryan replied.

"I guess not but it's ok for a night right. It was Summer's idea." Marissa admitted.

Ryan smiled and admired her a little more before they started kissing.

The entire night was incredible. They feel asleep around 3 in each other's arms. Ryan woke up around 6; the sun was shining bright into his eyes. He got up and put his boxers back on.

"Are you going back to your room already?" Marissa asked sleepily.

"No, not yet." Ryan replied.

"Why did you get up, it was so cozy." Marissa said.

"The sun was shining in my eyes; I'm going to shut the curtains." Ryan replied.

"Oh." Marissa said and waited for him to crawl back into bed next to her.

Ryan crawled back and wrapped his arms around her.

"You were really great last night." Marissa informed Ryan as she shut her eyes.

"So were you." Ryan said yawning.

They both feel asleep again until Summer came into the room at 10.

"Hey love birds; I think you should get up and go back to your room Chino." Summer said.

"Yeah you should Ryan so Sandy and Kirsten don't find out you slept here." Marissa said.

Ryan leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead and reached for his pants and shirt. Once he was dressed he went back to his room. Seth was still in bed and Ryan crawled into his to get another hour or so of sleep. Their flight wasn't till that night so they had all day to relax.

About 10 minutes later there was a knock on the door.

"Ryan, answer that." Seth moaned.

"Why can't you?" Ryan replied covering his head.

The person knocked again, this time louder.

"RYAN!" Seth moaned.

Ryan got up and threw his pillow at Seth and went to open the door. Sandy entered and Ryan returned to his bed.

"Come on sleepy heads!" Sandy said.

"Can we have another hour dad?" Seth asked.

"Since when do you two sleep this late?" Sandy asked.

"Now." Seth moaned.

"We have to check out by 1, you two better be ready by then or you're staying in New York." Sandy threatened.

"Just one more hour." Ryan said covering his head with the blanket.

"We're taking the girls out for breakfast; we'll bring you boys back something. Don't sleep in." Sandy said and left. The boys continued sleeping; at around 11:30 Ryan finally was ready to get up. He jumped in the shower and when he was finished he woke Seth up to do the same. By the time Sandy knocked on their door at12 the boys were showered and dressed. Sandy gave them their breakfast and told them to meet everyone in the lobby at 12:30 because they were going to the Nana's, she was opening her gifts at 2.

"Coop did you and Ryan have a good time last night?" Summer asked, "Did he like what you bought for him?"

"Yeah it was so nice. He knew it wasn't my idea to buy it though." Marissa replied.

"That doesn't matter; did he think you looked sexy?" Summer asked.

"He was pretty much speechless." Marissa answered.

"Chino didn't have anything to say, wow that is a shocker." Summer laughed.

"Sum!! So what did Seth said about yours, it was a little wild." Marissa asked.

"Of course he loved it, but honestly I don't think he paid much attention to what I was wearing." Summer said.

"That's because there hardly anything to look at." Marissa teased.

"Thanks Coop." Summer replied, "I'm just happy you and Chino are ok."

"So am I. I can't believe we have to go back to school this weekend, it sucks!" Marissa said sitting down on the bed to wait for Summer to finish. Summer always packed too much stuff.

"We still have today and tomorrow left Coop." Summer said sarcastically, "You're planning kick off carnival right?"

"I guess." Marissa replied, "Dr. Kim wouldn't let me out of it last year so I don't think she'll let me out of it this year."

"Good cause you throw an awesome carnival Coop." Summer said.

Someone knocked on their door and Marissa went to answer it.

"Hey, how did you like your breakfast?" Marissa asked letting him in.

"It was good; I was starved." Ryan smiled and entered. Once he was in the room he dropped his bags and noticed Summer so he pulled Marissa into the bathroom.

"Ryan, what are you doing?" Marissa laughed.

"I just want to do this." Ryan said lifting her up so she was sitting on the bathroom counter and gave her a kiss, "are you wearing what you had on last night?"

"No." Marissa laughed, "You liked it huh?"

"Yeah." Ryan smiled and lifted her down off the counter. Ryan and Marissa returned back to the bedroom where Summer was almost finished packing.

"Hey Chino." Summer said placing the very last thing into her bag.

"Summer." Ryan said sitting down.

"Is Cohen ready?" Summer asked.

"Yeah he's watching TV till its time to check out." Ryan answered.

"What time do we have to check out?" Summer asked.

"One but we have to meet everyone downstairs in like 5 minutes." Marissa said, "We should go."  
Everyone followed Marissa downstairs where Kirsten, Sandy and Seth were waiting and headed to the Nana's apartment.

Nana's apartment was a tiny little thing. It had two small bedrooms, only big enough to put a bed and a small dresser in. The bathroom was small as well, it had a stand up shower sink and a toilet and barely enough room to get dressed in. The living room and dinning room were joined and was cluttered with pictures and momentums that the Nana kept over the years. The kitchen was definitely the largest room and the most modern. There was a brand new stove and refrigerator; it was obviously that the Nana spent a lot of time in it.

"Ryan where did you put the wedding gift we bought?" Marissa asked pulling Ryan aside from the crowd.

"I brought it here yesterday when we stopped by, it's with the others." Ryan replied.

"I thought I had it and I couldn't find it anywhere today." Marissa said.

"Why didn't you ask me about it earlier when I was in your room." Ryan asked.

"I must have forgotten about it until now." Marissa replied.

Sandy motioned for Ryan and Marissa to grab some food before they sat down to watch the Nana and her new husband open their gifts. Marissa wasn't very hungry so she put a couple of pieces of fruit onto Ryan's plate instead of getting her own. Ryan pilled his plate high with different stuff that looked good and went to sit down on the couch; Marissa sat next to him.

Ryan bite into a spring roll, "You have to try this."

Marissa took a bit of it, "Ryan, it's a spring roll."

"It's good." Ryan said.

"Yeah but it tastes like every other spring roll." Marissa laughed, "Have you ever had a spring roll?"

Ryan shook his head and Marissa smiled at him; he looked so cute when he says something strange or different.

The Nana and her husband opened the gifts; well mostly the Nana opened them and he watched.

Seth and Summer bought them a scroll for their marriage certificate and engraved in it was an engraving wishing the newly weds 'good luck and prosperity love Seth and Summer' and the Nana loved it  
Marissa and Ryan bought them a beautiful picture frame that matched the scroll Summer and Seth gave the Nana. The Nana loved it as well.

Kirsten and Sandy gave their gift last; Sandy passed his mother a key chain and a card. The Nana looked at Sandy with a confused look and opened the card. Inside she found a key and a note written that she now opened a house just outside of the city. Sandy and Kirsten knew she wouldn't want anything large or spectacular or far from where she always lived, but Sandy wanted to give her something she deserved for working so hard to raise the family as a single mother. Kirsten was a little afraid of how the Nana would take the gift.

"Thank you both so much." The Nana said and hugged both, "This is a very generous gift and we both appreciate it so much."

Kirsten smiled at the good reaction, "Sandy wanted to give you something that you've worked your whole life for because you deserve it."

"And we didn't go over board because we know you don't like materialistic things. The house is comfortable, not overly big and not far from the city. I think you're going to love it mom." Sandy said.

Sandy's brother and sister thought it was a beautiful idea as well and helped furnish it.

"Rebecca and Joe furnished the house for you." Sandy informed.

The Nana thanked her other children for the generous gift. Sandy wanted to take the Nana to her knew home before they had to leave so Sandy, Rebecca and Joe left with their mom and her new husband to check out the house.

Summer, Marissa and Kirsten tied up the apartment while they were gone. They returned to the house about 3 hours later, just before it was time to head to the airport.

"So what did you think? Did you like it?" Kirsten asked

"We loved it, you two couldn't have picked out a better house." The Nana said.

"I'm so glad; we have to get going to the airport Sandy." Kirsten said.

"Yeah we should get going." Sandy replied.

Everyone said their good byes and left for the airport and boarded the plane 2 hours later.

"That was a really nice trip; I think your mom really loved us being there." Kirsten said.

"I know, she said that to me countless times. We should visit her more often." Sandy replied.  
"After she told us she had cancer I promised myself that if she survived we'd visit her often." Kirsten said, "It's sort of sad for her to get cancer for us to finally do what we should have always done."

"We can't change the past but we can always change the future." Sandy said kissing his wife.

The movie, Butterfly Effect, was playing on the plane so the friends were fairly quiet for the first 2 hours; since the movie requires all of your attention. After the movie a dinner was passed out to the passengers.

Ryan was studying the chicken that was given to him before he started to eat it.

"Ryan that is called chicken." Marissa said in a teasing way.

"Oh really." Ryan said nudging her in the side.

"Yes, it is a type of bird that usually lives on a farm." Marissa said sarcastically.

"Wow! That is good to know." Ryan replied wrapping his arm around her head in a playful way.

"This time there is no pool to throw me in buddy." Marissa laughed.

"Just wait till we get home." Ryan said.

"Are you threatening me Atwood?" Marissa asked.

"No it just a warning." Ryan replied.

Marissa started to yawn.

"Tired?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah." Marissa replied.

Ryan reached down and grabbed a pillow that was on his seat when he got onto the plane and placed it on his shoulder, "Here lye down; go to sleep."

Marissa did what he said and fell asleep. After a few minutes Ryan felt tired and rested his head on Marissa's and fell asleep.


	21. Chapter 21

Summer and Seth spent most of their time playing travel board games but after 5 hours they decided to go to sleep.

Their flight got in early in the morning. The limo dropped everyone off.

Marissa entered her house, told her father she was home and went right to bed.

Summer didn't say anything because he dad was away and she was too tired to deal with her step mother; so she went right to bed.

When the Cohen's and Ryan got home, Ryan started immediately for the pool house but Kirsten and Sandy stopped him.

"Wait, we have something to show you." Kirsten said.

Ryan stopped confused.

"Come on we want to show you something." Sandy said heading towards the stairs.

Ryan followed Sandy and Kirsten up stairs, Seth followed.

Kirsten opened a door and let Ryan into the room.

"So what do you think? Do you like your new bedroom?" Kirsten asked.

Ryan look around, it was perfect for him. The walls were painted a greyish colour and the trims were painted white. The desk, bed and dressers were black and the linens were red. The room fit Ryan's personality perfectly. It was bigger than any room he'd ever imagined living in.

"Thanks." Ryan mumbled in shock.

"Do you like it man? It's screaming Ryan Atwood." Seth said sitting on the bed, "The beds more comfortable than the pool house."

"It's great, thank you." Ryan said still amazed.

"Come on Seth, let's go to bed." Sandy said, "All your stuff is moved in here but you can rearrange everything if you want."

"No it's good." Ryan said ready to crawl into bed.

Ryan looked around his new room and he felt completely part of the family.

The next day Kirsten took the boys shopping. Ryan suggested not going but Kirsten forced him to go saying she needed him there for sizes. They returned home after hours of shopping, Kirsten had them to as many stores as she could get the boys to go to.

"Marissa called for you Ryan and Summer called for you Seth." Sandy said as they started upstairs with their bags.

Ryan unpacked his stuff and put it away. When he was finished he called Marissa.

"Hello?" Marissa answered.

"Hey." Ryan replied.

The next day Kirsten took the boys shopping. Ryan suggested not going but Kirsten forced him to go saying she needed him there for sizes. They returned home after hours of shopping, Kirsten had them to as many stores as she could get the boys to go to.

"Marissa called for you Ryan and Summer called for you Seth." Sandy said as they started upstairs with their bags.

Ryan unpacked his stuff and put it away. When he was finished he called Marissa.

"Hello?" Marissa answered.

"Hey." Ryan replied.

"Hi how was shopping?" Marissa asked?

"You know how shopping is for me." Ryan replied.

"Yeah I know how much you hate it." Marissa said, "I was wondering if you want to do something?"

"Sure, what were you thinking?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know, I was hoping you would have an idea." Marissa replied.

Ryan paused and looked around his new room and looked at the new TV and DVD player in his room, "How about we go for something to eat, rent a movie and come back here."

"OK, do you want me to pick you up?" Marissa asked.

"No, I'll get the car and I'll pick you up at 5." Ryan replied.

"Great, I'm going to go to Summer's but I'll make sure I'm back for 5." Marissa informed.

"So I'll see you then. Bye." Ryan hung the phone up.

Ryan headed to Seth's room to pass the time until he was supposed to pick Marissa up.

"Hey man what's up?" Ryan asked.

Seth was on his computer when Ryan entered his room.

"Just checking out the movies playing tonight." Seth answered.

"You and Summer are going to the movies?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, are you and Marissa doing anything cause you can come too." Seth said.

"We are getting something to eat and then we planned on renting a movie." Ryan replied.

"Why don't we all go together and instead of renting we'll all go to the theatre." Seth said.

"Well I'll call Marissa and see what she wants to do." Ryan said picking up the phone in Seth's room.

"Hello?" Marissa answered her cell phone.

"Hey are you still home?" Ryan asked.

"No, I'm almost at Summer's." Marissa answered, "Why?"

"Seth and Summer are going to the movies tonight and asked us to join them, are you interested."

"It doesn't matter, what ever you want Ryan." Marissa said.

"It doesn't matter to me." Ryan replied.

"Ryan, you decide and what ever it is that you want to do we'll do." Marissa said.

Ryan sat there for a second, "Seth what movie are you going to see?"

"I don't know." Seth answered.

"We'll just rent one." Ryan said to Marissa.

"Ok, so I'll see you at 5." Marissa said.

"Are you ok with just us hanging out?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah I'm glad you decided to rent a video." Marissa replied.

They both hung up. Ryan sat down on Seth's bed and looked over at the clock, 3:30.

"You and Marissa are going to rent a movie instead?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, you don't mind do you?" Ryan asked.

"No not at all, so what time are you going out?" Seth wondered.

"5, you? Are you guys doing anything before the movie?" Ryan asked.

"Not that I know of why?" Seth asked.

"We're getting something to eat, you and Summer can join us if you want." Ryan offered.

"that is probably a good idea, I'll call Summer and ask her." Seth said and picked up the phone.

Seth asked Summer and she agreed to go out for dinner with Ryan and Marissa. Summer offered to drop into the video store and pick the boys up instead of bringing two vehicles. Summer would drop Ryan and Marissa off after they ate.

Summer got to the Cohen's house just after 5

Everyone decided to check out the new Chinese restaurant that had opened just a few weeks ago. They were seated in the back corner in a cozy booth. The restaurant was dark but uniquely decorated. The waiters and waitresses were dressed is traditional Chinese clothing. Marissa and Summer admired the clothing.

They ordered their food. After about 10 minutes soup was brought out to the group and about 15 minutes after that their meals were brought out.

"Ryan what do you think?" Marissa asked watching Ryan pick through the food on his plate.

"It's pretty good, just checking out what I'm eating." Ryan replied slightly laughing at himself.

"I really like it, how about you two?" Marissa asked.

"I would definitely come back." Seth replied.

"I know the food is delicious." Summer replied.

"So school tomorrow." Seth mentioned.

"Yeah I know but I wish this summer could have lasted forever." Marissa said.

"The summer started off rough but it ended really well." Ryan replied.

"What classes did you guys sign up for?" Summer asked.

""I have calculus, biology, physics, chemistry, all that fun stuff." Marissa said.

"I have history and sciences and I also took a drawing course." Ryan replied.

"Drawing! Ryan you want to be an artist?" Seth laughed.

"He wants to be an architect remember Cohen." Summer stated.

"Right, that's cool Ryan." Seth said.

"What about you Cohen, what classes are you taking?" Summer asked.

"I have some math, history and English courses." Seth replied.

Marissa knew how Summer's courses would be, all the easiest courses that were available.

"I took gym and some art classes and English and math." Summer said.

The bills came as they were talking. Seth and Ryan took each bill and took out their money.

"Are you guys ready to leave?" Summer asked taking out her keys.

"Yeah let's go." Seth replied

Summer dropped Marissa and Ryan off and they left for the movie.

There was a huge line up for the movie they wanted to see. Seth wrapped his arms around Summer as they waited in line.

"I'm glad we're starting off the year together." Summer whispered.

"So am I, you know what we missed." Seth said.

"What?" Summer asked.

"We missed our 6th month anniversary." Seth said.

Summer looked up at him surprised, "When was our 6th month anniversary?"

"August 14th." Seth said, "Well that is when we actually got together."

Summer kissed him, "I can't believe you actually remembered that."

"Being with you is the most important thing to me, of course I wouldn't forget that." Seth said.

"Well you did until now." Summer teased.

"The summer was really busy, I'm sorry." Seth replied.

"Well you've done plenty this summer to make up for it." Summer smiled.

Seth tightened his hug, "I love you Summer."

"I love you too Seth." Summer said as they were the next in line for tickets.

Marissa and Ryan entered the house.

"We should have just gone to my place." Marissa said.

"Why? We're fine here." Ryan said.

"But Kirsten and Sandy might be watching TV and you don't have a TV in the pool house." Marissa said.

"Don't worry." Ryan said as they walked into the living room.

"See Ryan." Marissa said.

"Ryan hey." Sandy said, "Marissa how are you?"

"I'm fine. Hi Kirsten." Marissa said.

"Hi Marissa. How was the new restaurant?" Kirsten asked.

"It was delicious, you two should definitely go there some time." Marissa replied.

"We will then. What are you two doing tonight?" Kirsten asked.

"We are going to watch a movie." Ryan replied.

"We were but you guys are using the TV so we could always go back to my place Ryan." Marissa suggested.

"Why, you can watch it in Ryan's room." Sandy said.

"Didn't Ryan tell you that his new room is complete? He's moved into it already." Kirsten said.

"Really? Ryan why didn't you say anything." Marissa asked.

Ryan gave her is cute smile.

"Well aren't you going to show me your new room?" Marissa asked.

Ryan nodded at Kirsten and Sandy and lead Marissa up to his new room.

"I can't believe you didn't mention your new room." Marissa said as they walked up the stairs.

"I just figured you'd see it when you came over." Ryan replied, "They had it done when we got back from New York."

"Here it is." Ryan said opening the door.

Marissa went in and looked around, "Wow Ryan, they really made this room to suit you."

Ryan turned the TV on and started the DVD; he sat down on the bed and Marissa sat next to him.

"Do you like it?" Marissa asked.

"The room? Yeah it's nice to have a real bedroom." Ryan replied.

"I like it too." Marissa said cuddling up to Ryan.

There was a knock on the door and Sandy walked in, "Ryan where is Seth?"

"He went to the movies with Summer." Ryan replied.

"Do you know what time he'll be home?" Sandy asked.

"I'm not sure but I don't think he'll be late." Ryan replied.

"Well when he gets home Kirsten and I have something to show you two." Sandy said and left the room.

"I wonder what he has to show you two." Marissa pondered.

"I guess we'll see later." Ryan said wrapping his arm around Marissa, "the movie is going to start."

The movie wasn't all that interesting and Marissa had fallen asleep and eventually Ryan did too. They continued to sleep until Seth barged in and woke them both up.

"Ryan come down stairs, dad wants to show us something." Seth said.

"What time is it Seth?" Marissa asked confused a little.

"It's 9:30, Ryan will give you a ride home after we find out what dad has." Seth suggested.

Ryan and Marissa followed Seth downstairs and out to the front of the house.


	22. Chapter 22

Kirsten and Sandy were standing outside when Seth, Ryan and Marissa got out there.

"So what is it?" Seth asked.

"We were thinking a lot about this when you and Ryan returned," Sandy started, "And we think it's time for you guys to have something."

"But if you show one bit of irresponsibility we will take it back in a second." Kirsten warned.  
As she said that, Sandy opened the garage door and a jeep was inside. It was perfect for the boys.

Seth immediately went over to the car and Marissa gave Ryan a hug, "You and Seth have your own car now!"

"So what do you boys think?" Kirsten asked.

"It's great but really it's a little much." Ryan said admiring the new blue hard top jeep.

"You boys needed it eventually and we thought now was the perfect time." Sandy replied.

"Thanks." Ryan said joining Seth at the Jeep.

"This is awesome!" Seth said.

After about 20 minutes of admiring the car, Seth decided to go inside to call Summer. Sandy and Kirsten left to go back inside so Ryan got to drive the car first.

"How does it feel to drive your own car?" Marissa asked very happy for him.

"I never thought I'd ever have one." Ryan replied, "But it feels great, the Cohen's are too good to me."

"You deserve it and they love you like their very own Ryan." Marissa replied.

Ryan pulled up to Marissa's house.

"I thought you'd take me for a drive." Marissa said.

Ryan looked at her, "We couldn't even finish watching the movie."

"I know." Marissa replied, "Now that you have a car are you going to pick me up for school instead tomorrow?"

"Sure, Seth and I will pick you up at 8." Ryan replied.

Marissa leaned in to kiss him, "Don't be late."

Ryan laughed as Marissa got out of the car and headed into the house.

The next morning Seth informed Ryan he had to pick Summer up as well as Marissa. Seth drove since Ryan had already driven the new Jeep. Ryan and Seth met at lunch, Marissa and Summer had a different lunch then the boys.

"I was thinking." Seth started.

"That's always a dangerous thing." Ryan joked.

"Seriously Ryan, the Jeep has gotten me thinking. We should go camping." Seth suggested.

Ryan looked at him funny, "I don't do camping."

"Come on man, who doesn't like camping." Seth said.

"Me." Ryan replied.

"You don't know what you're talking about Ryan." Seth said.

"Besides, I'm sure the girls won't go for it either." Ryan said.

"They're coming right now. Why don't we ask them?" Seth mentioned as the girls sat down next to the boys.

"Ask us what?" Summer asked.

"Seth wants us to go camping." Ryan replied.

"Camping?" Summer said, "I've never been camping."

"Me neither." Marissa replied.

"There's always a first for everything." Seth replied, "Ryan says camping isn't his thing."

"Heights weren't his thing either but he did the Ferris Wheel." Marissa smiled, "It might be fun Ryan."

"I'm willing to give it a go." Summer said.

"Ryan? Are you in?" Seth asked.

Ryan looked at everyone and as much as he wanted to say no he agreed to go.

Later that evening while the Cohen's were having dinner Seth brought up the idea of going camping.

"So we were talking today and Ryan and I thought we'd take the Jeep to go camping with the girls this weekend." Seth said.

"Summer camping?" Kirsten asked.  
"She said it was worth giving a try and Marissa thinks it'll be fun." Seth said.

"Ryan, camping doesn't seem to be your thing." Sandy said.

"Well if Summer is willing to go through it I figured I should too." Ryan replied.

"Well you're mother and I was thinking about taking a weekend away so I guess it'll be fine." Sandy said.

"Awesome!" Seth said.

Friday afternoon came along and everyone was packing up the car. Sandy brought out a Coleman grill and some propane tanks to cook on and a cabin tent.

"We only own one tent; I aired it out for you yesterday." Sandy said.

"Thanks." Ryan said taking it and putting it into the jeep.

Ryan through the sleeping bags and the girls bags into the car.

"All set?" Sandy asked.

"Looks to be." Seth said as everyone jumped into the jeep. Seth got into the driver's seat and Ryan into the passenger and the girls in the back. Sandy made his way to the driver's window.

"Now don't be burning down any forests, it's been dry so be careful." Sandy warned.

"We will, don't worry dad." Seth replied.

"Ok have fun and be careful with the girls." Sandy said as Seth started pulling away.

They drove north for about 2.5 hours, just far enough from home. They arrived at a camp park and Seth goes out to find out what site they were booked for. When he returned he had a parking permit and camp site number and directions to get to it. Marissa took the sheet to see where the site was.

"Hey look they have bathrooms." Marissa said.

"Wicked, I thought we'd have to pee in the woods." Summer said.

"And the beach isn't too far away either." Marissa said.

"How close are we to another site?" Seth asked.

"Well it looks like we're back and our site is surrounded by trees." Marissa answered.  
Seth finally pulled down a path to their site. Once he reached it he parked the car.

"Hey this is cool; we have our own fire pit and everything." Summer smiled.

"We're away from everyone, I like it." Ryan said.

Marissa and Summer had to use the washroom; so while they were gone, Ryan and Seth started to put the tent up.

"Did you guys go camping a lot when you were younger?" Ryan asked Seth.

"Before we moved to Newport we did. Dad and mom loved camping back then but you wouldn't believe that would you?" Seth replied.

"I can't picture Kirsten camping." Ryan laughed.

"Yeah mom used to do a lot of stuff before that I can't picture her doing now." Seth replied.

The boys finished putting the tent up, it had three rooms to it. Ryan unrolled Marissa's and his sleeping bags in one section; Seth unrolled his and Summer's sleeping bags in another; and they left the middle section for their coolers and bags.

Marissa and Summer arrived back just as they finished setting the chairs up.

"Wow that was quick." Summer said taking a seat.

Marissa followed and took a seat beside her, "What do we do now?"

"It's already 7, is anyone hungry?" Seth asked.

"I'm starved, can we go get something to eat?" Summer asked.

"We can make something here." Seth said setting up the grill his father packed for them.

"Cohen, I'm hungry so the food better be good." Summer replied.

"What are you making?" Marissa asked, "Cause I don't eat meat."

"Well that causes a problem." Seth said and Ryan went to the cooler to see what they had packed, he couldn't believe he forgot about Marissa.

He pulled out some bread and cheeses, "What about a grilled cheese?"

"That fine." Marissa replied.

Summer pulled out a couple of magazine's she brought with her.

"Coop let's take a quiz." Summer said pulling a pen from her purse.

"Ok Coop, When a friend-who's always falling in love-says she's met The One, you say: a. "Wow, this happened so fast…" b. "Omigosh! When's the wedding?!" or c. "If I got a dollar every time you said that, I'd be richer than both Olsen twins." Summer said reading the question from the magazine.

"Uh, I probably would say a Sum." Marissa replied.

Summer finished the quiz off and calculated her score.

"Ok Coop, when it comes to seeing the bright side of things you're a good-attitude gal but you're kind of close to a buzz-kill babe." Summer said.

"Really?" Marissa replied bummed.

"Don't worry Coop it's just a stupid magazine." Summer replied, "Besides I don't think you're a buzz killer. You treat everyone around you amazingly, it's just yourself you don't see the bright side of things." Summer replied.

Supper was ready not long after and Ryan brought Marissa's over to her and sat down next to her.

"Wow this looks amazing." Marissa said admiring his grilled cheeses sandwich.

"Remember, it's my specialty." Ryan laughed.

"That's right, so what do you guys have to eat?" Marissa asked.

"We're just eating hamburgers." Ryan replied, "We can go to the grocery store tomorrow and pick something's up for you to eat. I can't believe I forgot about packing food for you."

"Don't worry its ok." Marissa said.

"I was thinking after we eat and clean up we should take a walk." Seth suggested.

"Yeah that sounds like fun, we can walk to the beach." Marissa replied.

"We should go swimming." Summer suggested.

"Hey are you guys ready to continue?" Seth called out as he helped Summer up.

Marissa looked at Ryan, who nodded. "We're coming."

Ryan helped Marissa up and followed Seth and Summer down the path.

They didn't end up going swimming and returned to their camp site. It was already dark but Seth and Ryan managed to start a fire.

They could hear the people fromt he closest site to them. They had music blarring and it sounded like their aged.

Seth and Summer walked up to the washrooms and on their way back they ran into some of the people from the other camp site.

"Hey you guys are from Harbour right?" A guy asked.

"Yeah, you?" Seth replied shaking the guys hand.

"No but I've been there with a friend before. It's a cool place." He replied, "Why don't you come party with us. My name is Eric by the way."

"I'm Seth and this is my girlfriend Summer. Maybe we'll check it out, we're here with my brother and his girlfriend, Summer's best friend." Seth replied.

"Bring them along too. Well we got to go, hope to see you." Eric said, "Oh this is Lori and Shannon."

"Hi." Everyone said.

"Well maybe we will stop by." Seth said and they headed back to the camp site.

Marissa and Ryan were sat next to the fire and marissa was toasting a marshmellow.

"What too you two so long?" marissa asked.

"We ran into the people from that campsite, they told us we should go over." Summer replied.

"They seem like alright people. He recognized us from harbour." Seth added.

"Ryan you interested in going?" Marissa asked not thinking he would be.

"Yeah, why not " Ryan replied.

"Excellent." Seth said, "Just let me throw a sweater on and we're good to go."

Ryan grabbed himself and Marissa a sweater since it was getting a little cool out. They headed through the bushes until they got to the camp site.

There was about 25 people, some were sitting around a picnic table and others were standing around chatting while most of the girls were around the camp fire.

"Seth, Summer hey." Eric yelled as he approached them, "Great you guys decided to come."

"Eric this is my brother Ryan and his girlfriend Marissa." Seth said.

Eric shook Ryan's hand, "Hey didn't you date Luke?"

Eric said looking at Marissa.

"Yeah i did." Marissa replied.

"We used to play little league together. Do you still see him?" Eric asked.

"He moved to Portland before the summer started." Marissa replied.

"Oh, is that why you two aren't together anymore?" Eric asked.

"No we broke up over a year ago." Marissa replied uncomfortable.

"Well that's too bad, he's a good guy. Hey do you guys want a drink?" Eric asked and everyone accepted.

Eric returned with 2 beers and 2 cooler.

Eric took everyone around to introduce them.

Marissa and Summer sat down with a few of the girls around the fire and Eric took the boys with him to the picnic table.

Seth was downing the beer like it was water. Summer was downing her drinks as well. After 3 hours it was time to take them back to their site.

Ryan got them to eat some bread and drink some water before they went to bed.

"I guess it's best if I sleep with Sum. I've never seen her this bad before." Marissa said to Ryan.

"Yeah Seth's pretty bad himself." Ryan agreed.

Marissa helped Summer get ready for bed while Ryan doubted the fire with sand. Seth was already passed out when Ryan finally got to bed.

Ryan wike up at around 8:30, Seth surprisingly followed at 9.

"How are you feeling man?" Ryan asked as Seth appeared from the tent.

"Thirsty." Seth said, "Besides that I'm doing ok."

"I thought you'd be sick as a dog today." Ryan laughed, "I'm guessing Summer will be."

"Did she get sick or anything?" Seth asked.

"No, well not before I went to sleep at least." Ryan answered.

"Sorry man, about last night." Seth said.

"No problem." Ryan replied, "U hungry?"

"Starving." Seth answered.

Ryan and Seth started breakfast and Marissa woke up around 9:30.

"Hey Seth, how are you feeling?" Marissa asked.

"Not too bad, how's Summer?" Seth replied.

"I think she's ok, I made her drink lots of water last night and gave her some asprin. She should be ok." Marissa answered, "I'd say she'll be in bed for awhile."

At 10:30 Seth crawled back into bed with Summer and Ryan and Marissa took the Jeep for a drive.

They stopped at a few stores before returning back to the camp site at 1:30. Seth and Summer were getting ready to go to the beach.

"Where are you two headed." Marissa asked jumping out of the jeep. Ryan followed with the grocery bags.

"To the beach, you and chino want to come along?" Summer asked.

"Yeah, it's really hot out today." Marissa replied, "Ryan do you want to go?"

"Yeah, let's just put this stuff in the cooler." Ryan said.


	23. Chapter 23

Ryan and Marissa quickly changed and walked down to the beach to meet Seth and Summer. Summer and Seth found a spot on the beach next to the friends they met the previous night.

"How did you guys feel this morning?" Eric asked.

"Not that bad, I was up pretty early but had to go back to bed . Summer and I didn't get up till going on 12." Seth replied.

"Did you have a good time though?" Lori asked.

"Yeah we did, are you guys throwing a party again tonight?" Summer asked.

"You know we are." Lori replied.

"Summer, I'm going to get a drink, you want one?" Seth asked getting up with Eric.

"Sure, a water please." Summer replied and the boys left.

"So are you and Eric dating?" Summer asked, "Cause he's kind of cute."

"Are we dating?" Lori asked, "I wouldn't say we're dating but I wouldn't say we have nothing going on either."

"So you're basically friends with benefits." Summer laughed.

"I guess that is what you could call it." Lori laughed as well, "He's not really the boyfriend type you know. I know he likes me but he also likes 50 other girls too. If he wasn't so damn good in bed."

Summer smiled, "I guess when he's that hot!"

Ryan noticed Seth and Eric over at the canteen, "I'm going to go over with Seth."

"Ok, I see Summer." Marissa replied and headed towards her.

"Coop, you remember Lori from last night don't you?" Summer smiled as Marissa approached.

"Yeah, hi. Fun party last night." Marissa said.

"We're having another one tonight if you and Ryan want to come along." Lori replied, "I think Summer said she and Seth are going to."

"I'll see, I have to find out what Ryan wants to do." Marissa replied laying out her blanket next to seth and Summer's.

"Marissa and Chino are one of those couples who like to spend all their time together, along." Summer teased.

"And you and Seth aren't" Marissa teased back.

"Not all our time together." Summer replied.

They boys returned and passed the girls their drinks.

"Ask him if he's up to it." Summer said to Marissa.

"Sum and Seth are going to another party tonight and they wanted to know if we were going." Marissa said.

"I don't know, we'll see." Ryan replied sitting next to Marissa.

"Ryan, you're from Chino?" Lori asked.

"Yeah." Ryan replied looking up at her.

"So am I, I mean I was from there. My parents moved away from there a couple years ago." Lori said.

"Really." Ryan replied.

"Yeah! Thinking about it now I think you used to hang out with my brother, Wes Murphy? You remember him?" Lori asked.

"Wes? Really he's your brother, we were friends since we were only young. And you're his little sister who used to follow us around." Ryan laughed.

"I know I was so immature but you know I followed you around because I thought you were so cute." Lori informed.

Ryan didn't know what to say, so he just looked out into the water.

"You know Marissa I thought he was the cutest boy ever. He never used to talk to me and I think that is why I liked him, he was so mysterious." Lori said.

"He's still like that." Marissa replied.

"To bad Wes wasn't here, he normally comes camping with us. But he's working this weekend, he won't believe me when I tell him I ran into you here." Lori said.

"Yeah tell him I said hi." Ryan replied.

Everyone sat quietly for a few minutes.

"Hey why don't we play some volleyball." Eric suggested.

"That's a great idea babe." Lori said.

Everyone agreed. They spent hours playing. They went back to the campsite just after 7.

"Ryan, you're burnt." Marissa said.

Ryan looked down at his shoulders and they were as red as the burning wood in the fire.

"You had your shirt off for most of the day and you didn't wear any protection." Marissa said.

"Wow, I've never had a sun burn before." Ryan replied putting his shirt on.

"I'll but some aloe on you, take your shirt back off." Marissa said heading to the ten to retrieve the aloe.

She she returned she smoothed it over his shoulders and back. He started to feel the burning.

"I think I'm going to be in pain tonight." Ryan said.

"Yup, definitely." Seth laughed.

Ryan started supper not to long after. He was grilling a steak for him, Seth and Summer. Ryan and Marissa bought salad and chicken for Marissa, so Ryan started grilling her chicken as well.

By eight they were finished eating and cleaning up.

"So you guys going to go to the party?" Summer asked.

"I don't want to go but you can go Marissa." Ryan replied.

"I don't want to go without you Ryan." Marissa said, "I'll stay back here with you."

"But Coop, I have Eric money to pick something up for us tonight." Summer said, "You have to come."

"Sum I don't really want to go." Marissa replied, "Besides I spent most of last night taking care of you."

"Coop, I promise you won't have to tonight. I'll take care of you." Summer replied.

"No, Ryan wants to stay around here and so do I." Marissa said.

"Ryan will come if you do." Seth said.

"No I won't." Ryan said.

"I have to go up to the washrooms, it's like eww up there." Summer said, "Cohen will you come up to kill the bugs for me?"

Seth agreed and followed Summer up to the bathrooms.

"You seem like you're not in a good mood anymore." Marissa said sitting next to Ryan.

"Why would you say that." Ryan asked.

"Because you were just so set on not going to the party, you seemed like there was something else on your mind." Marissa said, "Does it have to do with Lori?"

"Lori? No, I just want to stay back here. You know I'm not the social type." Ryan replied.

"I guess." Marissa said.

About 10 minutes later Summer and Seth returned.

"Did you change your mind?" Seth asked.

"No we're just going to hang out here." Ryanr replied.

"Ok, we'll we're off. See you later." Seth said as the two headed down the path towards the next campsite.

Lori greeted Summer when she arrived with a flask of vodka.

"Look what I got for you." Lori said shaking the bottle in front of Summer.

Summer smiled and the two girls went to pour a drink. Seth found a place next to some of the guys until Summer and Lori returned.

"I can't believe you knew Chino." Summer said as they prepared their drinks.

"Yeah sometimes I think we're living in a small world." Lori replied.

"So what was he like, you know, back then." Summer asked.

"I don't know, I guess like I said earlier, he was really mysterious." Lori replied.

"So I guess you knew Theresa." Summer asked.

"Yeah, Theresa and Ryan were good friends, Theresa and I weren't all that good of friends though." Lori replied.

"Really why not?" Summer asked curiously.

"It's a long and complicated story." Lori replied.

Summer sensed that she didn't want to talk about it so she stopped asking questions and the girls returned to Seth and Eric.

Marissa and Ryan sat nestled together around the fire.

"You're more quiet than normal." Marissa said looking up at Ryan.

Ryan shrugged, "How so?"

"Ever since we went to the beach today you've been distant. Are you thinking about Theresa and her mom?" Marissa asked.

Ryan looked over at Marissa, "No but maybe I should call and see how she's doing."

Marissa nodded and got up to grab her phone.

Ryan was on the phone for only a few minutes before he hung the phone up.

"SO?" Marissa asked.

"She's doing good for now, Theresa just got back from the hospital with Eddie." Ryan replied passing Marissa the phone.

"Do you feel better?" Marissa asked putting the phone into her purse.

"Yeah." Ryan said plainly.

Marissa looked up at him, "You're still not ok. What's wrong Ryan?"

"It's nothing." Ryan said.

Marissa nodded knowing he wasn't going to tell her. She leaned over and kissed him softly and returned to her seat next to him.

"That was weird today, about Lori I mean." Marissa said trying to start a conversation.

When Ryan didn't say anything Marissa knew that she hit a sore spot.

"Ok spill it Ryan!" Marissa said looking up at him.

"Spill what?" Ryan asked trying to avoid the question.

"Why did running into Lori put you into a bad mood?" Marissa asked.

"It's just a reminder but it's doesn't matter." Ryan replied standing up to move the wood around in the fire.

"Ryan come back and tell me what you're hiding." Marissa said pulling him back towards her.

Ryan returned to his seat, "How do you know I'm hiding something?"

"Because of the way you're acting." Marissa replied, "I'm curious now Ryan you have to tell me."

"Just something happened that I wish didn't." Ryan said simply.

Marissa was now really curious, her mind was speeding at 100 knots per minutes trying to know what happened.

Ryan didn't say anything else.

"Ryan come on you have to tell me what happened now." Marissa said sitting up.

Ryan sighed knowing he wasn't getting out of telling her, "The first time Theresa and I were together she kissed someone else. I went to Wes's house for a party because he was leaving the next day."

"That's not all Ryan." Marissa said.

"I hooked up with Lori to get back at Theresa. I didn't speak to Lori after, so I was pretty much a jerk." Ryan said.

"Ryan she's like 2 years younger than us." Marissa said shocked, "She must have only been, what? 13?"

"No she's a year younger. It was just one of those times when someone's available and you know." Ryan said.

"Actually I don't know." Marissa said not really liking hearing about Ryan's past, even though she already knew whe it entailed.

"Marissa don't be mad at me." Ryan said.

"No, I'm not mad, I just don't like hearing about the girls you slept with." Marissa said, "It's one thing to know but to actually see them is a total other thing."

"You asked." Ryan said.

"So why has it been bothering you? Do you want to talk to her? Did you have feelings for her?" Marissa asked confused.

"I guess it just reminds me of my past experiences and I feel bad. I don't want anything from her." Ryan said, "I guess I feel bad just realizing what I used to be like."

Marissa nodded and smiled at him, "Do you want to go talk to her?"

"No, I just want to stay here with you." Ryan replied pulling Marissa onto his lap.

Marissa laughed and kissed him. After a little while it started to get cool out.

"Want to go into the tent?" Marissa asked smiling at Ryan.

Ryan nodded and lead her into the tent.

Marissa and Ryan got into the tent and it was just after 10.

Ryan pulled off his clothes until he was in his boxers and crawled into the sleeping bag. Marissa slipped on a tanktop and a pair of shorts and followed him into the sleeping bag.

"I'm so happy we broght this blow up mattress." Marissa said making herself comfortable.

"So am I, unfortunately I didn't get to sleep on it last night." Ryan smirked.

"Is that a quick shot at me buddy?" Marissa asked.

"Not at all." Ryan smiled rolling over so one arm was stretched out across her.

"Well it sure sounds like one." Marissa replied scooting her body a little closer to her boyfriend.

"Now, I wouldn't do such a thing." Ryan smiled and gave her a quick kiss.

Marissa ran her hand down his cheek, "I wish you could have slept on it with me last night."

"I know you do." Ryan said looking into her eyes.

Marissa looked back into his and started getting butterflies in her stomach.

"Do you know how beautiful your eyes are?" Ryan whispered.

Marissa smiled and lightly kissed Ryan, "I know how sexy yours are."

They kissed softly for a minute.

"Ryan, did you burn out the fire?" Marissa asked.

"No I didn't." Ryan replied.

"Do you think you should?" Marissa asked.

"I guess I should since Seth will probably be too wasted to do it when he gets back." Ryan replied crawling out of the sleeping bag, "I'll be right back."

Ryan put his shoes on and threw a shirt on before leaving the tent.

Ryan was gone for a few minutes before Marissa heard faint talking outside the tent, she figured it was just Seth and Summer returning back.

"Lori? What are you doing here?" Ryan asked as Lori approached him from the path leading to her site.

"I was just coming to see why you and Marissa weren't joining us tonight." Lori said.

"We just weren't in the mood, I'm not really the party type." Ryan said as he poured sand onto the fire pit.

"Are you sure that was the reason?" Lori asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be." Ryan replied.

"Well we haven't seen eachother since, well you know, and I figured maybe that was why you didn't come...because of me." Lori said.

"Nah, that was a long time ago." Ryan mumbled.

"Yeah but it wasn't that long ago really......you did confuse me Ryan." Lori said.

"Ah, sorry about that...really." Ryan said.

"I just wish you would have called me or something, I didn't think you were like that." Lori replied.

"It wasn't me." Ryan stated, "I was just hurt by Theresa and drinking, but really sorry about it." Ryan said.

"Look, why don't you and Marissa come join us." Lori said.

"Nah, I don't think so...." Ryan started just as Marissa came out of the tent.

"Ryan what is ta..." Marissa started until she saw who Ryan was talking to.

"Lori!" Marissa said confused.

"Hi Marissa." Lori said.

"Lori came by to see why we weren't at the party." Ryan said.

"Oh, she came by to see why we weren't at the party." Marissa said.

"Yeah, I told her we weren't in the mood but she's trying to talk me into it." Ryan said.

"Well if you want to go, go. I'm going to bed." Marissa said and went back into the tent.

Ryan looked at her while she disappeared back inside the tent, knowing she was a little mad.

"Sorry Lori, we're just staying here tonight." Ryan stated firmly.

Lori looked at Ryan, "Ok Ryan maybe I'll see you later."

Lori walked down the path and disappeared into the dark. Ryan walked towards the tent and took a deep breath before entering the tent.

Marissa was turned in towards the tent wall. Ryan pulled his shirt off and removed his shoes and got into the sleeping bag. Marissa didn't say a word and Ryan didn't know what to say at first.

He moved in close to her and wrapped his arm around her and kissed the back of her neck.

"Marissa." Ryan whispered.

"What?" Marissa whispered back.

"Don't be mad at me." Ryan said kissing her neck again.

"What was she doing out there?" Marissa asked still not looking at him.

"She asked if we weren't at the party because of her." Ryan said, "She also brought up what I told you earlier and she said that I confused her."

Marissa still not looking at him paused for a second, "What did you say to her."

"I told her that I was sorry about what happened and I told her it wasn't something I would normally do and it was caused by what was going on between Theresa and me and drinking." Ryan replied.

Marissa rolled over, "Was she hitting on you?"

Ryan laughed at how serious Marissa was.

"Don't laugh at me." Marissa snapped.

Ryan kissed her on the lips, "Oh she was flirting with me like crazy."

"Really? You're kidding right." Marissa said.

"She wasn't hitting on me." Ryan said pulling her closer to him.

Marissa smiled and Ryan gave her a kiss.

Marissa and Ryan woke up around 9 the next morning, both with big smiles on their faces.

"Good Morning." Ryan smiled as he pulled Marissa into him.

"Good Morning." Marissa yawned and then smiled at him.

"How did you sleep?" Ryan asked.

"Wonderful, but I don't want to get out of bed yet." Marissa replied.

"Are you still tired?" Ryan asked.

"No not tired." Marissa replied.

Ryan looked at her with a confused look on his face. Until Marissa crawled on top of him and he smiled accepting her suggestion.

They began kissing until Seth entered their part of the tent.

"Did you two have enough last night? You guys were at it almost all night." Seth said

"Seth! Don't you know that you're not supposed to walk in on people." Ryan said sternly

"I didn't think you two rabbits would be up to it again this morning, you had Summer and me up almost the entire night." Seth stated.

"We did not." Marissa said.

"Ah, yes you did." Seth replied.

"What do you want man?" Ryan asked stopping the two from arguing since he knew neither would give up.

"Summer and I were hoping to get back early today, are you guys going to get up or what?" Seth asked.

"Thanks for giving us a bit of notice." Ryan mumbled.

"Are you two getting out of bed?" Seth asked.

"We don't have any other choices now do we Seth." Marissa said, not trying to sound rude or anything.

Seth stood there, obviously waiting for the two to get out of bed.

"Seth?!?!" Ryan said.

"What, aren't you getting up." Seth said oblivious of why they wouldn't get out of bed with him there.

"seth, some privacy please." Marissa hinted.

"Oh, yeah. Sure." Seth said and exited the tent.

"Sometimes he could be so clueless." Marissa mumbled reaching for her clothes.

After about 2 hours they were packed and ready to go.

"Hey guys, leaving already?" Eric said as him and Lori appeared.

"Yeah we're taking off, but great party last night man." Seth said shaking Eric's hand.

"Yeah it was great, too bad you two didn't make it." Eric said turning his attention to Ryan and Marissa.

"We sort of made our own party here last night." Marissa informed trying to let Lori know that Ryan was her man.

"That's cool man." Eric said, "But you missed a pretty cool time."

"You guys should come to Newport some time." Seth offered.

"We were about to invite you to come visit us some time, but Newport would be cool. I can go see some of my old buddies." Eric replied.

"Yeah, Marissa and I could take you, Lori, to South Coast Plaza. It's like the coolest mall." Summer said.

"Yeah that sounds cool." Lori replied observing Marissa's expression. Clearly she wasn't as excited about it as they were. Lori didn't bother to care about that though.

As everyone was talking Ryan continued to pack up the car until Lori came over to say bye to him.

"Ryan." Lori said as she approached him to get his attention. He had seen her coming but pretened not to notice.

Ryan put the chair into the car before looking up at her.

"So you're leaving." Lori said.

"Yup." Ryan replied.

"Is Marissa still mad at you for me being here last night?" Lori asked.

"No, she wasn't mad at me any how." Ryan said, not letting her know that Marissa wasn't too happy at first with Lori being there.

"Oh. Did you tell her about us?" Lori asked.

"Tell her about us? What do you mean?" Ryan snapped.

"About what we shared before I left Chino?" Lori said.

"Yeah I told her, but there was no us Lori." Ryan said.

"It didn't seem like that then." Lori replied.

"Look Lori, I'm not who I was back then anymore." Ryan said, "I've changed."

"That's too bad because I really liked the old Ryan." Lori teased.

"What did you come over here for Lori?" Ryan asked.

Marissa noticed her boyfriend and Lori talking, she felt uneasy but didn't want to approach them either.

"I just wanted to say good bye and that we're going to be going to Newport to visit so I'll see you soon." Lori said and wrapped her arms around Ryan for a hug.

Ryan felt uncomfortable about this but didn't want to make a scene so he lightly patted her on the back. Marissa walked over just as they were hugging, Ryan immediately stopped the hug.

"You should probably go now, Eric is leaving." Marissa said.

"Yeah, we'll I'll see you both soon." Lori said and winked at Ryan as she walked away.

Marissa watched as she walked away, "Did she just wink at you?"

"What?" Ryan asked trying to play stupid.

"She winked at you didn't she." Marissa said again.

"What does it matter, she doesn't mean anything." Ryan replied.

"I can't believe she winked at you with your girlfriend standing next to you. What is she a slut?" Marissa said.

Ryan looked at her in disbelief, "Since when did you talk like that?"

Marissa looked up at him slightly embarrassed, "I just can't believe that."

"You're kind of cute when you're jealous." Ryan said, "I didn't even see you this bad when Theresa was around."

"That's cause I did like Theresa, I just didn't like you and Theresa." Marissa replied.

Ryan wrapped his arms around her, "I wish we still had the tent set up."

Marissa laughed and kissed him, "Me too."

"Anyone headed to Newport Beach, all aboard." Seth pronounced and jumped into the jeep. Ryan drove home with Seth in the front seat with him and the girls in the back.

They arrived back to Newport around 4, Ryan dropped Summer off first and then Marissa before headed home. After unpacking the Jeep Ryan retired to the shower, the much awaited shower since waking up this morning. Seth made his way into the kitchen and searched the fridge for something to snack on. Kirsten entered the kitchen as Seth was looking in the fridge.

"Down on the bottom honey." Kirsten said.

Seth knew what she meant and pulled out exactly what he was looking for, pudding. "Thanks mom."

"How was your camping trip?" Kirsten asked.

"Good, we partyed hard mom." Seth replied.

"That's nice sweetie, where's Ryan." Kirsten asked.

"He's out in the poolhouse taking a shower." Seth replied.

"You should go get one too honey, we're going out for dinner with Julie and dad." Kirsten said.

"Ah mom, do I have to go. I mean I don't need to go do I?" Seth complained.

"Go, Shower, Now." Kirsten demanded and Seth followed her order.


	24. Chapter 24

Ryan and Seth picked the girls up for school in the morning, early enough for them to grab a quick breakfast in the cafe. By 8:30 the gang all travelled off in separate directions for their classes.

Seth entered his class and sat down just before the teacher began class.

"Ok today we're going to start with our projects. It will be worth 40 of your grade as you all know and this year I will be be in charge of assigning your partners instead of picking your own." Mr. Tensen said.

The entire class moaned, no one liked it when the teachers forced partners onto eachother.

He started calling out the partners, Seth was partnered up with a girl named Paige. Seth used to talk to her a while back. She was smart and pretty and she was also on Summer's hate list. She was Summer's complete opposite. Paige worked hard at school and was really good at it, she didn't like large groups of people and she never drank, she was confident but quiet and she tried to blend in instead of stand out at school.

Seth looked across the room and gave Paige a slight smile once their names were called out, Paige returned his smile.

After the partners were finished being called out, Mr. Tensen suggested the partners meet before class the next day to go over what they wanted to do their paper on. As soon as class was finished Seth waited for Paige outside the classroom.

"I guess we're partners." Seth said as she exited the classroom.

"Yeah, so when should we meet to discuss it?" Paige asked as they walked down the hall.

"Maybe we could stay after school for a little while, is that ok with you?" Seth asked.

"Sure, I've already thought about it and I have a couple of ideas we could go over." Paige informed.

"Cool, see you around 3 in the library?" Seth asked.

"3." Paige accepted and walked off.

Seth smiled and walked off towards his next class.

At lunch time, Seth met up with Ryan. Marissa and Summer didn't have lunch with the boys.

"Hey man." Seth said sitting down at Ryan's table.

"Hey." Ryan said looking up from his book.

"Put that book away, lunch time is for eating not reading." Seth demanded.

Ryan put his book down and stared at Seth.

"Ok I have a problem." Seth said.

"Yeah I already knew that." Ryan hinted and bit into his lunch.

"No we were put into partners in history class today and my partner is Paige Freeman." Seth informed.

"And why is that a problem?" Ryan asked confused.

"Paige Freeman is number one on Summer's hate list." Seth said.

"Summer has a hate list?" Ryan asked not so surprised.

"Well not an actually hate list but if Summer did have one she would be number one. Summer and Pagie do not like eachother, not one bit." Seth replied.

"Well it's not your fault, Summer shouldn't care." Ryan said taking another bite of food.

"It's Summer we're talking about, you know the one with rage blackouts. Summer Roberts my girlfriend." Seth said.

"Yeah you're right. She's probably going to break up with you over it but that's all you can do about it." Ryan joked.

"Ryan this isn't a joking matter, what should I do? Should I tell Summer or just try to avoid telling her." Seth asked.

"Tell her man, she's not going to do anything. Besides you didn't choose her." Ryan said.

"Yeah, Summer will understand." Seth tried to convince himself.

"Well I have to meet Paige after school so can you pick me up later on after it's over?" Seth asked.

"Sure, what should I tell Summer when she asks why you aren't going home?" Ryan asked.

"Just tell her that I'm working with my partner in history and that you're picking me up later." Seth answered.

"And if she asks who your partner is what do I say?" Ryan asked.

"Just say I didn't tell you." Seth replied.

Ryan met the girls out by the jeep after school.

"You two ready to go?" Ryan asked unlocking the doors.

"Yeah, where is Cohen?" Summer asked confused but still jumping into the backseat, letting Marissa take the front since Seth wasn't around.

"He had to meet with his history partner I have to pick him up when he calls later." Ryan replied.

"His history partner, do you know who it is?" Summer asked curious who he was working with.

"Nah, he didn't mention that. All he said was that he had to meet after school." Ryan lied.

"He's working with Paige, I was talking to her earlier." Marissa informed her best friend.

"Paige? Why did he choose to work with her, EWWW." Summer said in the backseat.

"They were paired together by the teacher." Marissa replied but noticed Ryan's facial expression and realized she shouldn't have said anything.

"Oh." Summer simply said.

"Sum why is it that you two don't like eachother, I forget." Marissa said looking back at Summer.

"Coop you don't remember? Remember Jamie?" Summer said trying not to say to much.

"Oh yeah, Jamie. Right!" Marissa said remembering that Paige and Summer both dated Jamie at the same time. Jamie was with Paige first but started dating Summer without Summer knowing about Paige. Things ended on a very bad point. Paige found Jamie and Summer making out in his room. Summer was head over heals for Jamie before everything was exposed but still wanted to be with him after she found out about Paige, Jamie on the other hand wanted to stay with Paige. Since then Summer hated Paige.

Ryan didn't bother to ask what the girls were talking about, instead he continued to drive towards Summer's house.

"Sum I'm going to stop by later if that is ok?" Marissa said knowing that her best friend may need to have her there to vent with.

"That would be great Coop, thanks." Summer smiled, "Thanks Chino for the ride. Tell Cohen I'll call him later."

"No problem." Ryan said looking back at Summer as she got out of the car.

Ryan pulled out of her driveway, "You want to come over till I pick Seth up?"

"Ryan I'd love to but I have a bunch of homework to do and I want to get it done before I go to Summers. Is that ok?" Marissa replied.

"Yeah no problem." Ryan replied turning towards Marissa's house instead of towards his.

"Maybe I can stop by after I go to Summers, if I'm not there too long." Marissa said.

Ryan smiled at her, "If you have a chance, sure. How was school today, I didn't see you around at all."

"Busy, we had a meeting for the kick off carnival. It's going to be a blast I think." Marissa said.

"When is the carnival?" Ryan asked.

"It's always on the 20th of September." Marissa informed.

"And you have to be there for it?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, I'm the one running it." Marissa replied.

Ryan pulled up to Marissa's house and stopped the car.

"Thanks Ryan." Marissa said picking up her bag.

Ryan leaned over and gave her a kiss, "Hopefully I'll see you later."

Marissa nodded and got out of the car. Ryan waited until she opened the door and turned around to wave to him.

Instead of going home, Ryan decided to go to the mall. He only realized once Marissa mentioned the kick off carnival that their one year anniversary was on that night, the 20th.

He wanted to surprise her, he knew that she wouldn't think he'd remember or bother to buy her a gift and he wanted to prove her wrong.

When Ryan got to the mall he wandered around not really knowing where to start looking for a gift. He avoided all clothing store cause he knew there was no way he'd be able to pick out clothing for Marissa. He walked past the first jewellry store he scene determined he wasn't going to get anything in there. He walked around the entire mall once and didn't even go into one store. He stopped at the same spot he started and looked at his watch, he had only been there for 15 minutes so he started walking again.

This time he stopped in front of the jewellry store he past earlier, just to look at the display case. As he was looking the sales person approached him.

"Hi Sir, is there anything you're looking for specifically?" The sales person asked.

"No, I was just looking." Ryan replied and walked off. He walked down past a few stores and stopped and returned to the jewellry store.

"Oh I see you're back. Did you change your mind?" The salesperson said confronting him again.

"Maybe, I just want to browse around for now." Ryan said and the salesperson nodded and walked away.

Ryan looked around the store and stopped in front of the necklaces. He admired them and looked up for the sales person. She noticed and returned to his side.

"There are some very beautiful pieces there." She said unlocking the case to take them out for a closer look.

Ryan nodded and stood there while she pulled the necklaces out.

"Do you know what you're looking for or would you like some help?" She asked.

Ryan raised his hand up to his forhead and gave her a smile.

"Don't worry I can help. There are lots of guys who come in not knowing why there in her and not knowing what to look for." She laughed.

"Yeah." Ryan said slightly laughing.

"I'm assuming this is for your girlfriend?" She asked.

Ryan nodded.

"Birthday?" She asked.

Ryan shook his head no.

"Anniversary?" She asked.

"Yeah." Ryan replied.

"Ok, is she the type to wear jewellry or not?" She asked.

"Uh, she doesn't really wear a whole lot, simple nothing too bold or anything like that." Ryan replied trying to remember whether he's ever seen her wear jewellry.

"Ok that narrows it down a bit. Do you want to buy silver or gold?" She asked.

"Definitely gold." Ryan replied.

"White or Yellow?" She asked.

"Umm I don't know." Ryan answered, "What do you think?"

"I personally like white gold, it goes with everything." She answered.

"Let's go with white gold then." Ryan said.

"OK, let me just pick out the ones I think you're girlfriend will like." She offered and started going through the necklaces.

A couple minutes later the salesperson started showing Ryan the ones she thought Marissa would love. Ryan admired the necklaces and picked out one he thought Marissa would fall in love with.

"I think she'll like this one." Ryan said pointing to a necklace with a diamond solitiare pendant in white gold.

"That was my favourite too, she'll love it." The salesperson smiled and pulled it away from the rest and put the others back into the case.

"Would you like it gift wrapped?" She asked.

"Yeah thanks." Ryan replied and waited for it to be rang through to pay for it.

About 5 minutes later Ryan was heading out to the parking lot when his cell phone rang.

"Hello?" Ryan answered.

"Ryan, can you pick me up now?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, I'm on my way." Ryan replied and hung the phone up.

Ryan arrived at the school and Seth jumped into the car with Paige.

"I offered Paige a ride home." Seth said.

"Paige this is Ryan, Ryan..Paige" Seth introduced them.

Both said hi and Paige gave Ryan directions to her house.

After Paige was out of the car Ryan decided to let Seth know about Marissa informing Summer on who his partner was.

"Was Summer curious who my partner is?" Seth asked.

"Actually Paige told Marissa today and she told Summer when I was driving them home." Ryan informed.

"Really, did she freak out?" Seth asked.

"Actually she went kind of quiet." Ryan replied.

"Really and then Marissa asked why they didn't get along and a guy named Jamie was brought up. Besides that I don't know much else." Ryan replied.

"Oh." Seth said.

"Summer said she will call you later." Ryan said.

"Maybe I should go over there." Seth said.

"Marissa is going over there, maybe you shouldn't. Just wait till she calls you." Ryan suggested.


	25. Chapter 25

Seth and Ryan arrived at home to a note on the counter.

"Hi boys, I had to work late and Sandy is meeting a client for dinner. I left money for you guys to get something to eat. See you two later on this evening. Kirsten"

"She used to leave notes with mom and dad on them now its Kirsten and Sandy." Seth stated.

"Does it bother you?" Ryan asked.

"No." Seth said, "What do you want to eat I'm wasting away."

"Are you sure?" Ryan asked again.

"Really Ryan, it's just that you're like my brother now and my parents are pretty much your parents. I would think they would continue to put mom and dad on notes." Seth said.

"Maybe they feel uncomfortable or don't want me to feel uncomfortable." Ryan said.

"Maybe, so food?" Seth said rubbing his stomach.

"Let's just grab some burgers and fries at the drive thru." Ryan suggested.

Seth agreed and grabbed the money and keys.

They returned back to the house a half hour later and Summer had already tried calling Seth.

"Hey Seth, Summer called." Ryan said checking the caller id.

"Really? Why didn't she call my cell phone?" Seth wondered.

"Maybe she thinks you're still at school." Ryan suggested.

Seth nodded and picked the phone up to call Summer.

"Hello?" Summer answered.

"Hey." Seth said.

"Hi, you just getting home?" Summer asked.

"No Ryan picked me up a while ago, we just got back from grabbing a bite to eat." Seth informed.

"Oh, how was your meeting after school?" Summer asked.

"It was ok. I hope you are ok with it." Seth said.

"Ok with it? What do you mean?" Summer said not sure if he knew she knew who his partner was.

"With me working with Paige, not by choice I might add." Seth said.

"I don't like it but I'm glade you came out and told me about her." Summer said.

"I wasn't going to keep it from you Summer." Seth said.

"I hoped you wouldn't." Summer said, "Cohen?"

"Yeah Summer?" Seth replied.

"Just watch out." Summer said.

"Watch out for what?" Seth asked, "Summer you never did tell me why the two of you don't like eachother."

"It had to do with a boy and I don't want it to go on with you." Summer said.

Seth could hear the terror in her voice, he knew she was seriously scared over him working with Paige.

"Summer, you can trust me. You trust me don't you?" Seth asked.

"Cohen it's not you I don't trust." Summer said.

"If you trust me you don't have anything to worry about." Seth replied.

"I do Cohen." Summer said.

"What are you doing tonight?" Seth asked.

"Coop is coming over later." Summer replied.

"Why don't you both come over here, we can rent a movie. The parents are out tonight." Seth suggested.

"I'll see what Coop wants to do and I'll give you a call back later." Summer said.

"Ok, talk to you later." Seth said and they hung the phone up.

Ryan was up in his room doing his homework so Seth decided he should do his incase the girls decided to come over. Around 7:30 Ryan came down to the kitchen, Seth was just finishing up the last of his homework.

Ryan opened the fridge and took a pop out of the fridge, "Want one?"

"No thanks, have one." Seth said as he started putting his books into his book bag.

"So how is Summer about the whole Paige thing?" Ryan asked taking a seat next to Seth.

"I think she is ok, a little worried about it though." Seth replied just as the girls walked into the kitchen.

"Hey." The girls said joining the boys at the table.

"Hey." Ryan said smiling at Marissa, "I thought you wouldn't be here till later."

"Summer wanted to come by so I tagged along." Marissa said.

"I thought we could rent a movie." Seth said.

"Ok" Ryan agreed

Seth and Ryan headed to rent the movie, Marissa and Summer stayed at the house waiting. Marissa and Summer decided to make a few little snacks for themselves and the boys for while they watched the movie.

"I can't believe I'm actually using a mixer." Summer said amazed with herself.

"What is it that you're making Sum?" Marissa asked slightly laughing at the way Summer was holding the mixer, it was completely obvious that she's never ever used one before.

"It's a tostito dip, I'm mixing sour cream with cream cheese and taco seasoning. I have to put green peppers and tomatos with grated cheese on top, it's to die for Coop. Besides Cohen loves it, my cook makes it for him every time he comes over."

Marissa smiled at her, she could tell that Summer was head over heals in love with Seth and she was happy for her.

The phone started ringing.

"Should I answer that?" Summer asked Marissa.

"I guess." Marissa replied, "Why not, there's no one home."

Summer hesitated but picked up the receiver, "Hello?"

"Summer? It's Kirsten. Can I speak to Seth?" Kirsten asked.

"Mrs. Cohen Seth is gone to rent a movie for us but he should be back any time now." Summer said.

"Is Ryan there? Can I speak to him?" Kirsten asked.

"Sorry he went with Seth, I hope you don't mind Marissa and I waiting here by ourselves." Summer said.

"No of course not, but will you tell the boys Sandy and I are going to have a late supper and we won't be home till 11 or 12." Kirsten asked.

"I'll tell tem as soon as they get back." Summer said.

"Thank you, bye Summer." Kirsten said.

Marissa spilled juice on her socks just as Ryan and Seth walked in.

"It smells really good in here." Seth said.

"We made some snacks and that dip you love so much." Summer said hugging Seth.

"Ryan can I borrow a pair of socks, mine are covered in juice." Marissa whinned.

"Up in my top drawer, go help yourself." Ryan offered and Marisssa started for his room.

Marissa loved how the Cohen's decorated his room to suit his personality. She was thankful the Cohen's took him in and not only for her own sake but they gave Ryan a life he deserved.

Marissa opened the drawer and grabbed a pair of socks and closed the drawer, but as she closed it something shiny caught her eye and she pulled the drawer open further to see what it was.

She picked up the box Ryan had placed in his drawer earlier, the necklace and pendant he bought earlier.

"I can't believe he remembered." Marissa whispered to herself "And I can't believe he actually bought me something."

Marissa placed the box back and closed the drawer. She sat down on his bed to change her socks. Ryan walked in just as she put one sock on and sat down beside her. Marissa finished what she was doing and placed her attention to Ryan.

she leaned over and gave him a very passionate and very sexy kiss.

"What was that for?" Ryan asked after the great kiss.

"Just cause you deserve it." Marissa said.

Ryan looked at Marissa, who had a huge smile on her face.

"You saw it didn't you?" Ryan blamed.

Marissa's smile didn't leave her face, "What? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do." Ryan replied, "I can't believe you saw it."

"Ok, I did but only the box. I'm just surprised you remembered." Marissa replied and kissed the spot between his ear and neck that drove him crazy.

Ryan ran his hands around her waist, melting as she continued kissing him.

"Coop? Chino? The movie is about to start, are you coming down?" Summer called out.

Marissa and Ryan pulled away from eachother and headed downstairs.

Seth and Summer were cuddled together on the couch. Marissa and Ryan followed and covered over with a blanket.

"Cohen, your mom called to let you know that she and your dad are getting a late supper and will be home between 11 and 12." Summer informed.


	26. Chapter 26

They all fell asleep before the movie was over. When Sandy and Kirsten walked in they found the boys curled up on the sofas with their girlfriends and the tv screen all blue from the movie finishing.

"Sandy they look so comfortable and content." Kirsten said smiling at kids lying together on the couch.

"Should we leave them alone, just wake them up in the morning?" Sandy asked.

"What about Mr. Roberts and Jimmy, won't they be worried about their daughters?" Kirsten replied still admiring the kids.

"I'll go give Summers dad a call and you can call Jimmy." Sandy said.

Kirsten nodded and turned for the kitchen where she called Jimmy.

"Hello?" Jimmy answered.

"Jimmy its Kirsten, how are you." Kirsten started.

"Good, is everything ok Kirsten?" Jimmy asked concerned.

"Yeah everything is fine. Sandy and I just got home and found the Seth, Ryan, Summer and Marissa asleep on the couch. It looks like they all fell asleep while watching a movie and they look so peaceful and Sandy and i didn't want to wake them up. Is it ok if we let her spend the night?" Kirsten finished.

Jimmy was skeptical, "Are you sure that is what happened."

"Yes definitely. We just walked in and all the kids are together asleep in the living room, the tv looks as if the kids were asleep before the movie ended because the screen is gone all blue." Kirsten replied.

"Ok, well just tell he to come home before school tomorrow." Jimmy said, "Thanks for calling me."

Kirsten hung the phone up and turned off the lights before heading upstairs to bed.

"Did you call Summer's dad?" Kirsten asked starting to take out her earrings.

"Yes it didn't seem to care very much. What did Jimmy say?" Sandy asked as he removed his cloths for bed.

"He was skeptical but he eventually understood. Remind me to tell Marissa to stop at home before school tomorrow." Kirsten said joining her husband in bed.

"I will try." Sandy said and they both reached out to turn off the lamps on the night tables.

At 6:30 the next morning Kirsten walked downstairs to wake the kids up. Everyone was still in the same positions as they were when Kirsten left them before she went to bed. She walked over to Summer and Seth and lightly shook the couple.

"Mom?" Seth moaned, "What time is it?"

"It's 6:30 and time for you two to get up." Kirsten said.

"Mrs. Cohen?" Summer said confused, "What am I doing here?"

"You fell asleep here before we got home last night so Sandy called your father just to let him know you were ok." Kirsten said.

Summer ans Seth sat up and yawned, "Mrs. Cohen do you mind if I get a shower?"

"Sure, the poolhouse has fresh towels and a toothbrush. Go ahead." Kirsten said.

Seth started upstairs to his room.

Kirsten started lightly shaking Marissa and Ryan, unfortuantely they weren't as easy to wake up as Summer and Seth.

"Marissa. Ryan. TIme to get up." Kirsten said quietly but didn't wake them up.

"Marissa. Ryan. Time to get up." Kirsten said a little louder this time with a light shake but again they didn't move.

"Marissa. Ryan. It's time to get up now." Kirsten said louder this time and a harder shake. Marissa started to stir this time and Kirsten shook her a little more.

"Marissa." Kirsten said.

"Kirsten, umm." Marissa said looking around trying to remember why she was in the Cohens living room, "I'm sorry we must have fallen asleep watching the movie. I'm so sorry."

Marissa was sincerely sorry, she was terrified that Kirsten was angry with her.

"No it's ok. When we got home last night we found the four of you in here asleep. We decided to let you stay, I called your dad and he wanted me to tell you to stop by the house before school today." Kirsten said.

"Oh." Marissa replied.

"I can't seem to wake Ryan up. Can you take care of that, I have to go get ready for an early meeting this morning." Kirsten said.

"Sure, go get ready." Marissa said and Kirsten left the room.

"Ryan. Ryan. Wake up Ryan." Marissa said with no such luck.

Marissa thought about how to wake him up and one thing popped into her mind. She slowly moved her hand down Ryan's body until he started to stir.

"I knew that would wake you up." Marissa laughed.

"Well I've never been woken up like that before." Ryan said now wide awake.

"Come on get up, we have to get ready for school." Marissa said, "We all must have fallen asleep before the movie was over last night."

After Summer got out of the shower, Marissa jumped in. Everyone was ready to go at 7:40, just enough time to stop by Marissa's and Summer's before school. Marissa ran inside to see her dad and get a change of cloths.

"Dad? Dad are you up?" Marissa called out as she hurried inside the house.

"In the kitchen." Jimmy replied.

Marissa ran into the kitchen and gave her father a quick kiss on the cheek, "Sorry about last night dad but we all fell asleep watching the movie."

"Just don't let it happen again honey." Jimmy warned. "Your mother called last night."

"Yeah so what." Marissa said.

"She wants you to go out for supper with her, Caleb and Caitlyn tonight. I promised her you would be there." Jimmy informed.

"Dad!" Marissa whinned, "I don't want to go out any where with her or him."

"Look its only for a couple of hours and you are in a public place. I already agreed to it and you have to go." Jimmy said.

"Fine." Marissa said unhappily, "What time?"

"6, make sure you're home by 5:45" Jimmy said.

"Fine. I have to go change my clothes." Marissa said and left for her room.

Marissa quickly changed, got her books and left. Summer ran into her house when the arrived and quickly changed her clothes, grabbed her books and jumped back into the jeep.

The gang arrived at school at 8:15 so they all parted ways for class.

Seth walked into class and noticed a seat beside Paige so he walked over and took the seat.

She didn't look at him and Seth was curious why.

"Hey Paige." Seth said as he unpacked his bag.

"Seth." Paige said flatly.

"Ok I sense there is something wrong." Seth said stopping what he was doing.

"You're very observant aren't you." Paige said.

"Ok, what is the matter. Did I do something. I never knew you to be like this." Seth said.

"Why didn't you tell me who you were dating?" Paige said coldly.

"Umm I didn't think it mattered." Seth responded.

"Well it does, this partner thing just isn't going to work." Paige replied.

"It isn't, why not?" Seth asked.

"Because its doomed already. I don't want to fail and I know you don't want to either. It's just not going to work out." Paige said packing up her stuff to switch seats.

Seth looked at her confused, "Wait just a minute you're making no sense."

Paige looked up at Seth, "Did you tell Summer I was your partner?"

"Summer knows." Seth replied.

"And she has a problem with it doesn't she?" Paige said.

"Not one like you're making it out to be." Seth stated.

"Really?" Paige said.

"Really." Seth replied.

"She's not going to attack me or anything like that?" Paige asked.

Seth laughed, "No I don't think so."

"Oh, she didn't say anything about you and me being partners." Paige asked.

"She didn't like it. She was a little insecure about it but she's fine with it. She knows she has nothing to worry about." Seth said.

"Oh ok." Paige replied.

"So are you ok now? Are we still partners?" Seth asked slightly laughing at her.

"Sorry, I don't know if know our history but its not good." Paige said.

The teacher came in and Seth looked over at Paige for confirmation that things were fine and she nodded.

Seth and paige walked out of class together talkuing about convienent times to meet for working on their project. They were standing next to seth's locker when Summer walked towards them. After noticing them, Summer was determined not to stop but Seth noticed her before she had a chance to walk past.

"Summer, hey." Seth called out forcing Summer to stop. As she got close Seth leaned in for a hug and kiss. He kept her close with his arm around her waist.

"Paige and I were just discussing the best times to meet for the project." Seth said filing Summer in on their conversation.

"Oh, don't forget your interview on Thursday." Summer reminded.

"Right. Cross Thursday off." Seth said squeezing Summer tightly.

"Where's your interview?" Paige asked trying to be as friendly as possible with Summer being around.

"The Bait Shop, its a new all ages club opening next week." Seth replied.

"Yeah I know cause I actually got, um, hired there." Paige replied.

"Really?" Summer said coldly like Paige had it all planned.

Paige ignored her tone, "My boyfriend will be working there too. He got hired before I did."

"Boyfriend? I didn't know you had one." Seth said surprised.

"Yeah. We've been together off and on for a while n ow." Paige replied quietly since it was a sore spot for Summer and herself.

Just then the five minute bell went off telling everyone to head to class.

"Well I have to go, see you in history class tomorrow." Paige said and glanced at Summer slightly before leaving.

"I got to go to Cohen." Summer said.

"Yeah, I'll meet you at the Jeep after school?" Seth asked giving Summer a quick kiss.

"I'll be there." Summer said and walked towards her class.

The days passed, Seth got hired on at the Bait Shop. His schedule varied from week to week and unforntunately he was scheduled to work for the night of kick off carnival.

Ryan picked up the phone to call Marissa.

"Hello?" Marissa answered in a really good mood.

"Hey." Ryan said, shocked at how happy she was at 7:30 in the morning.

"Happy Anniversary." Marissa said with a hint of flirtiness in her voice.

"Happy Anniversary." Ryan replied back.

"It's unlike you to call before school." Marissa said.

"Well its not everyday we have an anniversary." Ryan offered, "It's a very special spot in our relationship."

Marissa couldn't help but smile, "We're going to have more Ryan."

"It's the only first one we'll ever have." Ryan said, "Besides this is a pretty big accomplishment for me."

"I'm happy you accomplished it with me." Marissa laughed.

"So am I." Ryan replied.

"When do I get my present?" Marissa asked like a little child.

"Later." Ryan said, "I'm going to go grab some breakfast and we'll pick you up soon."

Marissa agreed and hung the phone up. She returned to the gift she had for Ryan which was laying on her bed, she looked at it, "Ryan's going to love this" Marissa said to herself and started wrapping the bow around it. She picked up the other stuff and started placing them in a box to wrap. Just as she finished she heard Seth and Ryan honking. She looked at it once more and left the house.

Marissa skipped along till she was in the Jeep.

"I see you're in a cheerful mood today Marissa." Seth said.

Marissa smiled, "I am and how are you today Seth?"

"It's kick off carnival tonight and I have to work." Seth whinned.

"Really? Does Summer know you're working?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah I told her last night, she's not to happy." Seth replied.

When they got to Summer's Ryan hopped into the back to give Marissa a proper Happy Anniversary hello kiss.

When they arrived at school everyone could tell Summer was upset about something.

"Coop I need to talk to you." Summer said pulling Marissa away from Ryan's arms.

"Sum!" Marissa yelled.

"Coop!" Summer said.

"Ryan, I'll talk to you later." Marissa called out as Summer dragged her towards the school.

Summer pulled Marissa into the washroom.

"Ok Sum, what's wrong?" Marissa asked.

"I don't have anyone to go to kick off carnival with me. Everyone whose anyone is going to be there and you just can't go by yourself it's like a rule or something." Summer freaked out.

"Summer its not that big of a deal." Marissa said sympathetically.

"Coop, how you spend kick off carnival is how you're going to spend the rest of the school year and I'm not spending it along watching Valley reruns all night." Summer said.

Marissa felt horrible for her friend, "Sum you can hang out with Ryan and me."

"Really Coop?" Summer said happily.

"Really." Marissa replied giving Summer a hug.

Summer and Marissa exited the bathroom to go to class.

Marissa found Ryan before he went to lunch.

"Hey, how is your day going?" Ryan smiled.

"Better now." Marissa replied, "But I have some not so great news."

Ryan gave her a look and waited for the news.

"Summer was upset earlier about tonight and not having anyone to go to kick off carnival with. So I told her she was welcome to go with us." Marissa said.

"Oh." Ryan replied, "That's fine as long as we are alone before. She's not going out for dinner with us is she?" Ryan asked.

"No she definitely won't be with us then." Marissa smiled, "I can't wait to see what you bought me."

Ryan kissed her, "You're going to love it...I hope."

"To be honest I can't wait to give you the gift I bought for you." Marissa said as her eyes lit up.

"Marissa! You didn't need to get me anything." Ryan said.

"Yes I did. It's not just my anniversary, its ours." Marissa said hugging him.

Marissa heard Ryan's stomach grumble of hunger, "You should go to lunch you sound hungry. Besides I have a class to get to. See you after school?"

Ryan nodded and kissed her again before the parted.

After school Marissa went home to get ready for her date with Ryan, Ryan did the same. Ryan made dinner arangements for 5 to give them enough time after dinner to have some time together before the kick off carnival started.

Ryan picked Marissa up at 4:30, Marissa left her gift at home because they made plans to go back to her place after dinner.


	27. Chapter 27

Ryan knocked on Marissa's door, she opened it and Ryan was in amazement of how stunning she looked. She had her hair pulled back and she was wearing knee length slimming skirt and a silky halter top.

"You look, um, great." Ryan pretty much stuttered as she rubbed the top of his head.

"Thank You." Marissa said joining him on the step to lock the door, "You look handsome yourself."

Ryan was wearing a black suit with a light blue shirt, no tie though. Marissa was impressed he actually dressed up.

Ryan took her to a beautiful restaurant overlooking the ocean. It was very private and quiet but friendly.

Ryan ordered a steak while Marissa ordered lobster risotto.

"how's your meal?" Ryan asked.

"Delicious, what's your steak like?" Marissa asked.

"Pretty good, you want to taste it?" Ryan teased.

"Umm.." Marissa said, "I don't think so but you can try my lobster, its delicious."

Ryan nodded and Marissa put some on to her fork for Ryan to taste. She reached the fork out for Ryan to take his bite, "So what do you think?"

"Not bad but its no steak." Ryan teased.

"You're right, its better." Marissa teased back.

"If you think so." Ryan said.

After they finished they ordered dessert before leaving to go back to Marissa's. They arrived back to her house at 7.

"I thought we'd be back before this, what time does Summer think we're picking her up?" Ryan asked.

"8 but I could call her and tell her later." Marissa offered.

"No its ok, there's always after right?" Ryan replied stepping into the house.

"Right." Marissa agreed.

"Is you're dad home?" Ryan wondered.

"NO he's out with Hailey tonight, I'm sure he'll be staying on the boat tonight." Marissa answered, "Come up to my room, I can't wait to give you your present."

Marissa started towards the stairs but Ryan stopped her by pulling her back towards him.

Marissa looked up at him as he smiled at her.

"I've been wanting to do this since the moment you opened the earlier." Ryan said before leaning down to kiss her. Marissa fell into his arms, his kiss was unbelievable and she wanted nothing more but to kiss him all night.

"Come on Ryan if you keep kissing me like that we'll never get anywhere tonight." Marissa said with her eyes closed trying to savour every moment of that wonderful kiss.

Ryan nodded and took her hand and followed her upstairs.

Ryan sat on her bed as Marissa sat next to him, "So do you want your gift first or second?"

"Second." Ryan said, "I can't wait to give this to you any longer."

Ryan passed her the wrapped gift box she had already seen before and a card. Marissa opened the card first. Marissa read the quote inside and smiled, it said "What greater thing is there for two human souls that to feel that they are joined... to strengthen each other... to be at one with each other in silent unspeakable memories.  
George Eliot Marissa I love you with every part of me, Happy Anniversary!"

"Ryan this is so beautiful." Marissa said with tears in her eyes.

Ryan lightly brushed his lips against hers, "Open the gift."

Marissa nodded and unwrapped her gift. When she came to the box she looked up at Ryan before perceding. When she finally opened the box she gasped at how beautiful the necklace and pendant were.

"OMG Ryan, its gorgeous." Marissa said, "Ryan this is incredible. Wow."

Marissa was so surprised at how beautiful it was, she couldn't believe he picked it out. "Did you pick this out?"

"Well sort of. I asked for help and the sales person narrowed it down to about 10 and I picked this one. I guess I did good?" Ryan asked.

"You picked out the most beautiful one ever." Marissa said with tears forming in her eyes.

Ryan took it out of the box and put it around her neck.

"Ok for your gift. You have to close your eyes." Marissa said.

Ryan gave her a look before closing his eyes. Marissa went over to her closet and glanced at Ryan before opening the door. She took the gift out of the closet and brought it over in front of Ryan.

"Ok Ryan you can open your eyes." Marissa said with a huge smile.

Ryan opened his eyes slowly and his eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw the gift.

Marissa took it and placed it into his hands.

"You bought me a guitar." Ryan said with his eyes lit.

"I remembered when I first met you, you mentioned that your brother Trey used to play the guitar. You loved listening to it, you said when he was playing it all your problems seemed to disappear. I thought maybe you'd like to play, take lessons or something." Marissa said, "Do you like it?"

Marissa looked at him slightly nervous for his response.

"Marissa, I can't think of any gift better than this one." Ryan said still shocked.

"You mean it?" Marissa asked running her fingers over the necklace Ryan bought for her.

"Honestly, you couldn't have done a better job." Ryan said pulling Marissa down to him for a kiss.

After the kiss was finished Marissa starred into Ryan's eyes, "I put an inscription on the side, look at it."

Ryan read it and smiled, "I love you too."

Marissa kissed him again and looked up at the clock and it was already 8.

"We should probably get going, its 8." Marissa said.

Ryan laid the guitar down with a smirk on his face. He pulled Marissa down onto the bed so they were lying next to eachother.

"We can be a little late can't we?" Ryan asked slowly kissing the curve of her shoulder. Marissa moaned as she glidded her hands up the back of Ryan's shirt, untucking the collared shirt. She softly ran her nails over his back. Ryan moved his lips back to hers. Before they knew it they were out of breath, wanting eachother so bad.

"Ryan." Marissa said as she tried to catch her breath.

"Yeah." Ryan asked as he continued kissing her neck.

"We should prob..." Marissa started but was cut off by the phone.

Ryan stopped what he was doing to allow Marissa to grab the phone.

"We're on our way Summer, sorry we just caught up in something." Marissa said still trying to catch her breath.

"No problem but get her soon!" Summer said and hung the phone up.

"We can finish this later." Marissa offered as she got up off the bed.

"Of course." Ryan said standing up as well. He tucked his shirt in and fixed up his jacket as Marissa fixed her make up and hair.

Ryan looked down and picked his guitar up, he sat down on the bed and slowly started playing it.

"OMG Ryan!" Marissa exclaimed, "You can play it?"

"A little." Ryan replied, "I never thought I'd own my own though."

Marissa smiled, "Maybe one night you can play a special song for me."

Ryan nodded and continued to play a little music until Marissa was finally ready to go.

Ryan and Marissa were at Summer's house about 20 minutes later. Summer came running out, excited to find out what Ryan had given Marissa and to find out what Ryan thought about his gift.

Summer jumped into the backseat and without even a hello she immediately asked, "Coop? So what was it that he gave you?"

Marissa looked back at Summer not surprised at all, "Nothing."

Summer studied Marissa's face, it wasn't like her to joke and she didn't look as if she was joking. Without thinking he hand swooped up and slapped Ryan across the head.

"Hey! What was that for?" Ryan asked annoyed and rubbed his head.

"What kind of boyfriend doesn't give their girlfriend a gift for their first anniversary?" Summer asked angry.

"Sum, I was kidding. Look, this is what Ryan gave me. Isn't it beautiful." Marissa said pointing to the necklace.

Summer leaned forward to admire it, "Wow Chino, did you pick this out yourself?"

"Actually I did." Ryan replied, "But I think you owe someone an apology."

"Oh ya, sorry Chino." Summer said distantly still admiring the necklace, "Coop, that looks expensive and very elegant. Chino are you sure you're not gay?"

Ryan gave he a look..

"So Chino, what did you think of your present?" Summer asked.

"I loved it, it was perfect." Ryan said reaching out for Marissa's hand which she gladly took.

"Ryan can actually play Sum, he never mentioned that before." Marissa.

"Really, we'll did you guys have a nice day?" Summer asked.

Ryan and Marissa looked at eachother and smiled, "The best." Marissa replied.


	28. Chapter 28

Ryan, Marissa and Summer were walking around the carnival chatting and having a laugh.

"Can we get some cotton candy?" Summer asked as they walked past the canteen.

"Yeah, I'd love to have some. Ryan?" Marissa replied.

"Yeah sure." Ryan said and followed the girls.

"What ride first?" Summer asked as they sat down at a picnic table.

Marissa looked around, we could go on the twista wurl Sum." Marissa suggested.

"Cool, but only two of us can go on together." Summer replied.

"I'll stay here, you two go." Ryan said.

"You sure you don't mind?" Marissa asked.

"Of course not, go. Have fun." Ryan suggested.

Summer and Marissa looked at eachother and jumped up laughing and took off running for the ride.

Ryan sat by himself watching them as they waited in line, Marissa noticed and waved to him before their turn to board the ride. Ride sat patiently waiting for his girlfriend and Summer to return. Ryan was pretty much zoned out when someone came and tapped him on his shoulders.

"Hey man." the person said sitting down across from Ryan.

"Hey thought you couldn't make it." Ryan replied happy to see him.

"Got off work early, where the ladies?" Seth asked.

"On a ride." Ryan answered.

"So how was your evening?" Seth asked with a smile.

Ryan's face immediately wore a smile as Seth asked, "It was great. Marissa loved the necklace I got for her."

"That's awesome man, how was dinner?" Seth asked.

"Good, you should take Summer there. Seriously man." Ryan suggested.

"I'll keep that in mind, so what did the lady by you?" Seth wondered not know what she had bought.

"YOu'll never guess." Ryan said pausing for a second. Seth gave him a 'I don't know look', "A guitar, an acoustic."

"You're kidding, do you play?" Seth asked.

"A little, I'm not going to be able to put it down once I get it home." Ryan said.

"Really?" Marissa said happily as Summer and Marissa returned.

Ryan looked up and smiled.

"Cohen!" Summer said happily, "You made it."

Summer gave Seth a kiss, "I'm glad you're here."

"So am I, lets go play skeeball." Seth said.

Summer agreed happily, "Thanks you guys, for letting me tag along with you."

"You don't need to thank us Sum, you're welcome to hang out with Ryan and I any time." Marissa replied.

"We'll see you later?" Seth said.

"Definitely." Marissa and Ryan replied.

"So Ryan, are we going to go on the ferris wheel. It's where we finally had our first kiss." Marissa asked.

Ryan looked towards the ferris wheel, "I don't do heights."

"You did a year ago, you chased me up there if I can remember correctly." marissa responded.

"I did but that was when I didn't have you. I have you now." Ryan replied.

Marissa looked at him disappointed, "What do you want to do?"

Ryan studied her for a second and leaned in close to her and whispered, "I want to go on the ferris wheel with you."

Marissa's frown turned into a huge smile, "Thank You!"

Ryan followed Marissa to the ferris wheel, his heart was beating about 50 miles per minutes. The closer he got to the ferris wheel, the tighter he held Marissa's hand.

"Ryan it's ok, there's nothing to be affraid of." Marissa laughed feeling the tightness of his grip.

Ryan didn't reply, he just followed her until they were sitting in the cart. Ryan's heart was beating even faster now and even faster when the ride operator lowered the lap bar.

"Ryan, relax." Marissa said caressing his hand.

"Easy for you to say." Ryan replied with his eyes closed tight.

"Come on Ryan, you've been on an airplane. How is this any worse?" Marissa questioned.

Ryan opened his eyes, she was right how is this any worse, Ryan asked himself. Ryan ungripped the lap bar with his right hand and wrapped it around Marissa.

"I'm sorry." Ryan said trying to look at her, nothing else.

"For what?" Marissa said snuggling into him.

"For being such a baby." Ryan said.

Marissa could sense that he wasn't ok with being up on the Ferris Wheel and that he was trying to act like he was.

"Ryan you're not acting like a baby, heights is a fear that a lot of people have. I admire you though for coming up here with me." Marissa said lightly kissing him.

They sat quietly together, close together, until the ride was over.

Marissa needed to check up on everybody to make sure everything was smooth sailing for the carnival. Ryan followed her as she did her duties. When she was finished she asked Ryan if he was ready to leave. Ryan agreed and they left for Marissa's house.

Marissa unlocked the door and they walked into the empty house. Marissa walked up to her room and put her sweater and purse down.

"I'll be right back, I need to freshen up." Marissa smiled and left the room.

Ryan sat down on the edge of Marissa's bed and looked around. He remembered the guitar Marissa gave him and picked it up. He slowly stuck a couple of cords and a rythym started and he began softly singing.

"Hold on little girl, show me what he's done to you. Stand up little girl a broken heart can't be that bad"

He stopped playing just before Marissa came back, she had a huge smile on her face.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"I heard you singing." Marissa said in a teasing way.

"No you didn't cause I wasn't singing." Ryan replied.

Marissa smiled harder, "Can you sing for me?"

Ryan looked down shyly, "I can't sing for you.."

"Come on Ryan, I just heard you sing and I liked what I heard." Marissa said pratically begging.

"What do you want me to sing?" Ryan asked.

"What you were just singing." Marissa said sitting across from him.

Ryan started to play the guitar, he just strung the chords not singing for a few seconds and eventually started, "I'm the one who wants to be with you, deep inside I hope you feel it too, waited on a line of greens and blues, just to be the next to be with you. Build up your confidence so you can be on top for once, wake up who cares about little boys that talk to much. I've seen it all go done the game of love was up and down. Come on baby come on over let me be the one to ohh.."

Marissa was melting, he didn't sing as much as he was sort of talking through the song, but Marissa loved every second of it. When he stopped she just wanted him to continue.

"That was amazing Ryan, I never would have thought you would have known that song." Marissa smiled.

"I really don't know where I learned it, it was just in my head I guess." Ryan said.

"Can you sing and play another song for me, I can listen to you all night." Marissa said.

"I hope not all night." Ryan said giving her a sly look.

"No, but for a little while long." Marissa said shyly.

Ryan sat thinking about another song he could play and eventually he started again.

He played again for a little while before he started singing, "I'm falling even more in love with you, letting go of all I've held on to I'm standing here until you make me move I'm hanging by a moment here with you." He continued to play "forgetting all I'm lacking, completely incomplete, I'm taking you're invention, you take all of me. now I'm falling even more in love with you, letting go of all I've held on to. I'm standing here until you make me move, hanging by a moment here with you. living for the only thing I love."

Ryan stopped playing a put the guitar down and gave Marissa a seductive look, "Really I love playing the guitar for you but there's somehting else on my mind."

Marissa studied him and moved her way over to the bed next to him, "Does it have anything to do with this?"

Marissa leaned into him and gave a very passionate kiss, as she kissed him she pulled her leg up and over his so she was sitting on his lap, facing him.

"That is part of it." Ryan agreed and wrapped his arms around her.

"Ryan do you know how much I love you, cause I think I just fell in love with you all over again. I have butterflies in my stomach right now." Marissa admitted looking Ryan right in the eyes.

Ryan wrapped his arms tightly around Marissa keeping her close, he felt the same way, completely. "I know the feeling because every second I'm with you I feel like I'm falling deeper and deeper in love with you."

Marissa's heart skipped a beat, she couldn't remember a time that she felt this way and she was loving every second of it.

"Wow." Marissa whispered still in his hug.

"Wow what?" She heard Ryan whisper back.

"I just can't believe the way I'm feeling, I didn't think I could fall in love with you any more but I always do." Marissa said looking into his eyes. They looked at eachother and Ryan pulled her into him and began kissing her.

They were soon under the covers in eachothers arms and loving every second of it.


	29. Chapter 29

The next day Summer arrived at Marissa's place. Marissa was sitting in her room working on some homework assigned on Friday.

"Coop! It's Saturday, put that away." Summer said, "Let's go do something."

Marissa looked up, "But I have some much stuff to do."

"Coop, you have all day tomorrow. Who studies on Saturday any way." Summer said, "Besides Cohen."

"Ok, what do you want to do?" Marissa asked.

"Let's go for lunch and than hit the beach." Summer replied.

Marissa put her books away and grabbed her bikini, "Let me just quickly change."

"Good." Summer said.

Marissa met Summer down by the door and the two left for the crab shack.

"Did you and Seth have a good time last night?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah we didn't stay at the carnival long, Cohen's parents were gone out so we went back to his place." Summer said smiling.

"Oh when the parents are gone the kiddies do play!" Marissa joked.

"And you and Ryan weren't at anything last night?" Summer said throwing her paper towel at Marissa.

"Ryan and I don't do those sorts of things." Marissa replied.

"Right and money grows on trees!" Summer laughed, "Did you and Chino go back to your place last night?"

"We did and he started singing to me. I had to almost beg him too but he did. I think I fell in love with him all over again." Marissa said glowing.

"See I can't see Chino sing, he must be a different person around you." Summer said.

"He's the most amazing guy I've ever met." Marissa replied, "But I'm sure you feel the same way about Seth."

"Sometimes." Summer laughed, "So what are you ordering, I'm starving."

Summer and Marissa ordered their lunch and a little while later they were eating. Marissa's cell phone started to ring half way through.

"Sorry Sum, it's Ryan." Marissa said and answered the phone.

"Hey Ryan." Marissa said.

"Hi, you busy?" Ryan asked.

"I'm justing eating. What's up?" Marissa asked.

"I was just seeing if you wanted to come over." Ryan said.

"I'd love to but I made plans with Summer. We're at the Crab Shack eating lunch and then we planned to go to the beach. What are you doing later?" Marissa asked.

"Hanging out with you?" Ryan asked hopefully.

"Good, around 8?" Marissa asked.

"Anytime, just come over." Ryan said.

"Why don't you come to my place, dad has plans again tonight." Marissa suggested.

"You're place at 8." Ryan replied and they hung up.

"When the parents are gone the kids do play." Summer moched as Marissa put her phone away. Marissa tossed a fry at Summer and laughed.

"Exactly!" Marissa said putting a fry into her mouth.

Ryan headed downstairs to find Seth. Seth was at the kitchen table doing homework.

"Come on man, lets play station it." Ryan said closing Seth's book.

Seth looked up at Ryan. He thought about commenting on Ryan's move but then changed his mind, "You're on."

For the next few hours Seth and Ryan hardly left the living room; except to grab drinks and snacks. At 6 Kirsten came in and told them that supper was ready to eat. They boys stopped for about 15 minutes and went straight back to playing the game.

A couple hours later Kirsten entered the room, "I can't believe you two are still playing that. Ryan you're wanted on the phone, it's Marissa."

"Marissa? What time is it?" Ryan asked pausing the game.

"8:30." Kirsten replied passing him the phone.

"Sorry, I lost track of time." Ryan said as he put the phone up to his ear.

"It's ok, what are you doing?" Marissa asked.

"Seth and I were playing play station." Ryan answered.

"If you don't want to come over you can stay there with Seth." Marissa offered.

"No, I'm coming. I'll be there shortly." Ryan said hanging up the phone.

"Sorry man, got to go." RYan said.

"Ok, maybe I should call Summer, see what she's been up to today." Seth said.

"She was out for lunch with Marissa earlier and then they went to the beach." Ryan offered, "Do you need the Jeep or can I take it?"

"It's all yours." Seth said.

"Thanks." Ryan replied and headed out the door.

When Ryan got to Marissa's he knocked on the door and Marissa let him in. She gave him a quick hello kiss and shut the door.

"My dad is here, I don't know if he's leaving again or if he's staying in." Marissa said leading Ryan to the couch.

"No problem." Ryan replied and sat next to her.

Jimmy appeared from upstairs, "Ryan hey. Did you like the guitar?"

"Yeah it was great." Ryan replied looking up at Jimmy.

"I was begging Marissa to give it to me but she would hear tell of it, it's nice isn't it." Jimmy said.

"It is, do you play?" Ryan asked.

"A little. Did you two have a good time last night? How was dinner?" Jimmy asked.

"We had an amazing dinner and then we went to the carnival." Marissa said, "But we had a really good time."

"That is great." Jimmy said.

"What are your plans tonight dad?" Marissa asked.

"Hailey was supposed to come over here tonight." Jimmy said.

"Oh, should we leave?" Marissa asked.

"No it's ok sweetie, we're renting a movie you both can watch it with us." Jimmy offered.

"Maybe." Marissa replied.

"Well I'm going to go pick Hailey up, see you two when I get back." Jimmy said leaving the house.

"Sorry, when I called you he wasn't home. Do you want to watch a movie with them?" Marissa asked.

"I don't care, what ever you want to do is ok." Ryan said.

"We can wait to see what they're watching and then make our minds up." Marissa suggested.

"Sounds good. How was the beach today?" Ryan asked.

"Nice, Summer and I had fun hanging out." Marissa replied stretching her legs out across Ryan's lap.

Ryan rubbed his hand over her calves.

"What did you do today?" Marissa asked.

"Seth and I played play station." Ryan replied.

"All day?" Marissa asked surprised.

"All day." Ryan replied smirking.

The week went by slowly Ryan had a huge test coming up on Friday and spent the entire week studying for it. Ryan didn't hang out with anyone outside of school because of the test. He had also made plans to go visit Theresa on Saturday.

On Friday evening Ryan retired to his room to take a nap, he was exhausted from the week of studying he had. Marissa was starting to miss him because the only time she got to see him was while the were driving to and from school. She decided to visit him Friday evening.

Marissa knocked on the door and Kirsten answered.

"Hi Kirsten, is Ryan home?" Marissa asked.

"Sure, he's up in his room. Go on up. How are you doing?" Kirsten asked.

"Good, I just haven't seen Ryan in a while because of the test." Marissa replied.

"Were you writing the same test?" Kirsten asked.

"No, I'm not taking that course." Marissa answered.

"Oh well he's up in his room." Kirsten replied and Marissa headed upstairs to his room.

His door was shut so Marissa lightly knocked on the door but there was no answer. She slowly opened and noticed the room was dark and Ryan was asleep. Marissa was about to leave but decided not to. She crawled onto the bed and cuddled into him and fell asleep as well.

A few hours passed and Ryan woke up surprised to see Marissa in bed with him. He smiled and wrapped his arm around her, holding her tight. Marissa awoke and lookekd over at Ryan.

"Hey." She smiled.

"Hi, when did you get here?" Ryan asked, "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Around 6:30. You looked so peaceful and I was going to leave but we hardly seen eachother this week. I missed you." Marissa said.

"I know, sorry about that, that test was a killer." Ryan replied.

"I understand, school should always come first." Marissa said snuggling her head between his shoulder and neck.

Ryan kissed the top of her head, "What do you want to do tonight?"

"This." Marissa replied softly.

Marissa rolled over so she was facing the same direction as Ryan. Ryan wrapped both his arms around her and held her really close. As they were lying there Kirsten came into the room.

"Ryan you didn't eat supper, are you hugnry?" Kirsten said, "Marissa I didn't think you were still here."

"Ryan was sleeping when I got here, so I laid down with him and fell asleep." Marissa said, "Is that ok?"

Kirsten looked at the two and smiled, "Sure. Are you two hungry? There's left overs downstairs."

"Yeah, I'll be down in a little while. Thanks." Ryan replied.

Kirsten nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Ryan kissed Marissa's cheek, "Are you hungry?"

"No not really." Marissa replied.

Ryan didn't say anything for a few minutes, he just kept hugging her tighter.

"I missed you too this week." Ryan sighed with his chin rested on her shoulder.

"Good." Marissa replied which made Ryan slightly laugh, "Let's go get you something to eat."

Marissa and Ryan got up off the bed and went downstairs to the kitchen. Kirsten was making 2 plates up from the take-out containers.

"Kirsten, I'm not that hungry." Marissa informed.

"Well try to eat it and if you can't we'll just toss it." Kirsten said setting the two plates at the table.

"Where is everyone?" Ryan asked wondering where Seth and Sandy were.

"Sandy is working late tonight and Seth is gone over to Summer's." Kirsten replied.

"Oh, did you eat by yourself earlier, cause you could have woke me." Ryan said.

"Seth was here with Summer, they ate with me. You were so tired, there's not way I would have woke you up." Kirsten said.

"Thanks, I didn't even hear Marissa when she came in. I only noticed her in the room when I woke up not to long ago." Ryan replied.

"I got some work to do, I'll be upstairs if you need me." Kirsten said.

Marissa picked at her food, Ryan finished his and Marissa gave him the rest of hers. Once they cleared the table they went to the livingroom to watch tv.

"I'm going to visit Theresa tomorrow." Ryan informed Marissa as they cuddled on the couch.

"Oh, how is her mom? Is she doing any better?" Marissa asked.

"No but she's no worse, which is good I guess." Ryan replied, "I was actually going to ask you to come with me, are you busy."

Marissa was surprised but happy he asked, "No I'm not busy, I'd love to come with you."

"Good." Ryan replied and gave her a nice kiss.

Ryan got up around 9 and Seth was already eating breakfast.

"Are you still going to Chino today?" Seth asked while spooning another pile of cereal into his mouth.

"Yeah around 11." Ryan replied getting a bowl out for himself.

"Cool." Seth said.

"How was your night last night?" Ryan asked trying to make conversation.

"Good...we went bowling...fun times." Seth said pausing between each set of words.

"Bowling?" Ryan said, "Wow."

"Hey bowling requires skill, skill that I seem to have." Seth said.

Ryan just laughed at him, "Where are your parents?"

"Gone grocery shopping, our fridge seems to be getting fairly empty." Seth replied.

Ryan opened the fridge and it was stocked of course, if Seth only knew the way his fridge used to look when he was in Chino, Ryan thought to himself.

"Did you tell the girlfriend about your trip to Chino today?" Seth wondered.

"Yeah she's actually coming with me." Ryan replied sitting down next to him.

"Oh, Theresa and Marissa together. You're day should be fun." Seth replied.

"I'm not worried. Eddie will be there with Theresa." Ryan stated.

"Right." Seth said.

Once Ryan was finished he went to jump in the shower. When he returned downstairs Marissa was in the kitchen with Seth, Kirsten and Sandy.

"Leaving for Chino soon Ryan?" Sandy asked as Ryan entered the kitchen.

"Soon, around 11." Ryan replied sitting next to Marissa.

"Are you going along with him Marissa?" Kirsten asked.

"Yeah, I'd like to see Theresa and see if there is anything I could do for her." Marissa replied.

"That's really nice of you, Ryan would you find out if there is anything we could do. Will you give her and her family our sympathy?" Kirsten asked.

"Sure." Ryan replied, "Marissa did you breakfast?"

"Yeah, dad made me french toast this morning." Marissa said.

"You're father made you breakfast? Was it etable?" Kirsten laughed.

"Actually over the last year he's gotten really good at cooking." Marissa replied.

Ryan looked down at his watch, it was 10:30. "Marissa ready to go?"

"Sure, when ever you are." marissa replied and stood up with Ryan.

Sandy passed him the cell phone he always took with him to Chino and told them to call when the got there. Ryan agreed and lead Marissa out to the car.

They arrived in Chino around 12:30 and went right to the hospital. Ryan lead them up to Theresa's mom's room.

"I'll wait out here, take as much time as you want." Marissa said squeezing Ryan's hand.

"Thanks." Ryan said giving Marissa a half smile and walked into the room.

Theresa was there with her mom. He glanced over at Theresa's mom and couldn't barely reconize her. "I thought she wasn't doing any worse." Ryan thought to himself and Theresa noticed his facial expression as he looked at her mother.

"The doctor said the medicine is making her look the way she does, don't worry. She's sleeping right now but she should wake up in an hour or two." Theresa offered.

Ryan looked over at her, "How are you doing?"

"I'm ok, Eddie has been really good at keeping my spirits up." Theresa replied.

"Good, I'm happy he's been there for you." Ryan replied.

"Yeah." Theresa said, "Why don't we go get some coffee or something until mama wakes up."

"Sounds good, uh Marissa is here, she umm came with me." Ryan informed.

"Oh, was she affraid to let you come by yourself?" Theresa asked.

Ryan gave he a look, "No, I asked her to come with me. You're ok with that right?"

Theresa looked up at Ryan, "Yeah, of course."

Ryan opened the door letting Theresa walk our first and then he walked out behind her.

"Theresa." Marissa said standing up, "I'm sorry about your mother, how is she doing?"

"As good as she could be I guess." Theresa replied.

"She's sleeping right now so we thought we'd go down to the cafeteria." Ryan replied.

After an hour they went back up to see Theresa's mom. Ryan stayed with her for a couple hours and Marissa went in to say hi. Later on Theresa, Marissa and Ryan went back to Theresa's house, Theresa had to meet Eddie.

"Ryan, hey man." Eddie said as they entered the house.

"Hey." Ryan said shacking his hand.

"How are you doing Marissa?" Eddie asked.

"Good, yourself?" Marissa replied.

"Ok." Eddie replied.

"Ryan and Marissa came to see how mom is doing. We just came back from seeing her." Theresa said sitting down.

"How is your mom doing?" Eddie asked.

"She's really tired but she was really happy to see Ryan." Theresa replied.

"What time are you two heading home?" Eddie asked.

"I don't know." Ryan replied.

"Why don't we all go grab a bite to eat....remember we used to go to Brown Bag It...I'm sure Marissa's never been there." Eddie said.

Ryan looked over at Marissa who nodded.

"Let's go." Ryan said.

An hour and a half later Ryan and Marissa were on their way home.

"How did you like supper?" Ryan asked.

"It was good, you used to eat there?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah, Chino's Brown Bag It is like Newport's Crab Shack. That is where everyone used to hang out." Ryan replied.

Marissa smiled at him.

All of a sudden both of them were surprised by a huge bang, a car horn and bright lights.


	30. Chapter 30

Ryan must have been out for a few seconds because when he awoke people were around the jeep, rushing to help. The jeep was hit by a large truck. The trucker must have not been paying attention because he was swerved out into Ryan's lane, that was when he hit the Jeep.

Ryan started panicing, he started trying to move and get out of the car and he remembered Marissa.

"Marissa." Ryan started screaming and looked frantically around for her.

"Sir, you're awake. Relax, we're working to get you out." A man said calmly to Ryan.

"Marissa, where is Marissa?" Ryan screamed again.

"We just go her out of the car, an ambulance is on its way. Stay still you don't want to hurt yourself." The man said still calm.

"Is she ok? Is Marissa going to be ok?" Ryan asked almost in tears now realizing how much damage was caused to the car.

"Don't worry." Was all he said.

Ryan passed out again. When he awoke he was in an ambulance on his way to the hospital. He couldn't move, his head was strapped in a brace and his arm was shooting with pain.

Ryan looked around and the paramedic noticed that he was awake.

"How are you feeling, do you know where you are?" The paramedic asked.

"In an ambulance?" Ryan replied.

"Yes, do you know what happened?" The paramedic asked.

"Car accident?" Ryan replied, "Where's my girlfriend?"

"She's at the hospital now." The paramedic replied.

"Is she ok?" Ryan asked.

"Let's just concentrate on you for now." The paramedic replied.

"Why won't anyone answer me, I want to know how Marissa is." Ryan said getting angry.

"Relax Ryan, we want you to stay as still as you can. We believe that you may have bruised your ribs and your arm is broken. You need to get tests done to make sure you didn't harm your spinal cord." The paramedic said.

"I don't care about me. Why won't you tell me about Marissa?" Ryan said crying now.

"We're here now Ryan." The paramedic said and people were coming from all directions, before Ryan knew it he was being looked at by a doctor.

Marissa was rushed to the hospital as soon as they got her out of the car. Marissa was unconcious and bleeding heavily from the head.

The doctor immediately ran tests to see exactly how damage was done to Marissa. She had a severe concusion and she had some internal bleeding, the doctor rushed her into OR.

Ryan had his arm casted and was told that he was bruised but everything else was fine. As soon as he could he called the Cohen's.

"Hello?" Sandy answered.

"Sandy its me Ryan, Marissa and I are at the hospital in Riverside." Ryan said softly.

"What? Why are you two there, are you guys ok? What happened?" Sandy asked.

"We were driving back from Chino and a truck hit us. I'm ok but Marissa, I don't know how she is." Ryan said and Sandy could tell he was crying.

"We're on our way." Sandy said and hung the phone up to get Kirsten and Seth.

As soon as Ryan got off the phone he was determined to find out how Marissa was. He went to the nurses desk.

"Can I help you sir?" One nurse asked.

"I'm looking for my girlfriend, she was brought in here after being in a car accident. I want to know how she is doing. Can someone please help me." Ryan asked, pleading almost.

"I'm sorry sir but we can only talk to family members about her condition." The nurse said.

"Listen, I was in the car accident too. I'm worried about her and I just want to know if she's ok. Please help me, her name is Marissa Cooper." Ryan said nearly in tears now.

"Hold on I'll see what I can do but I can't guarantee anything." The nurse said and left the station.

Ryan waited as patiently as possible until she came back.

"She just returned from surgery, she hasn't woken up yet but she is stable." The nurse said.

"Is there any way that I can see her, she needs someone to be with her." Ryan said, "She'll want me with her."

the nurse obviously felt sympathetic for him and nodded, "You're her brother right?"

Ryan understood and nodded, "She's in room 56."

Ryan nearly ran to her room, still feeling unstable from the car accident but he didn't care, he only cared about Marissa. He had to make sure she was ok, he couldn't live with himself if she wasn't.

Ryan entered the room slowly, it was dark and he got an asy feeling when he entered. He looked over at Marissa laying still in the bed, her face was cut up and bruised. She had stiches across her forhead. Tears came to Ryan's eyes as he sat next to her, taking her hand into his. He knew the accident wasn't his fault but he blamed himself for Marissa being in it. If he didn't ask her to go with him she wouldn't be lying in that hospital bed.

"I'm so sorry Marissa." Ryan whispered to her and put his head down next to where he was holding her hand.

Sandy, Kirsten, Seth and Summer entered the room about 45 minutes later.

"Coop!" Summer said with tears in her eyes and ran to Marissa's side.

"Ryan, we're so happy you're ok." Sandy said giving Ryan a hug.

"I'm ok, I just have some bumps and bruises and a broken arm." Ryan replied, "Unlike Marissa, she hasn't woken up yet."

"This is not you're fault sweetie. We just spoke to the cops outside and they told us exactly what happened." Kirsten said.

"If I hadn't invited her to come with me to Chino, she wouldn't be here right now." Ryan said looking down at her.

"Ryan, how did you know this was going to happen. You can't do this to yourself." Sandy said.

Kirsten went to call Julie and Jimmy, to inform them about Marissa.

"Julie is going to blame me." Ryan said.

"Don't you worry about Julie Cooper, Nichol, what ever her name is." Sandy said.

"What did the doctors say Ryan? Is she going to be ok?" Summer asked Ryan.

"They wouldn't tell me anything except that she had to have surgery because she had internal bleeding. Sandy can you try to see if you can find out about Marissa's condition?" Ryan said.

"I hope Coop's ok, she's had such a hard time this last year." Summer said.

Seth sat down on the arm of Summer's chair, "She's going to be ok guys."

Sandy returned back to the room just after Kirsten did.

"Did you find anything out dad?" Seth asked before Summer or Ryan could get anything out.

"They think she's going to be ok although they are affraid that she might had temprary memory loss. They are certain in won't last long but where she hit her head, there is a lot of swealing." Sandy said.

Ryan looked down at Marissa and burried his head next to her body. He started crying but didn't want anyone to know. Jimmy came in not to long after.

"Marissa baby." Jimmy said looking at his daughter. Ryan looked up and got up to let Jimmy sit down next to her.

"Ryan are you ok?" Jimmy asked giving Ryan a hug before he sat down.

"I'm fine, just really worried about Marissa." Ryan softly replied.

"I know. I'm happy you're ok." Jimmy said sitting down next to his daughter.

"I just talked to the doctor and he told me that they expect Marissa is going to be ok. Unfortunately where she hit her head is swollen and she may have temporary memory loss. The expect it be very temporary, maybe a week or so but once the swelling goes down it should come back." Sandy said.

"Oh sweetie." Jimmy said looking at her black and blue face.

"I'm sorry Jimmy." Ryan said.

"Ryan it's not your fault, please don't think it is." Jimmy offered.

"I can't help it." Ryan replied.

"Hey man, why don't we go down and grab something to eat?" Seth asked Ryan.

Ryan nodded and Summer, Seth and Ryan left the room.

While they were gone Julie arrived at the hospital furious.

She stormed into the hospital room, "Where is he?"

"Who?" Kirsten asked.

"That no good boy living with you." Julie said.

"This is not Ryan's fault Julie, not even a little bit." Kirsten replied.

"My daughter was in the car with him, was she not?" Julie asked.

"Yes Ryan was driving but the accident was not his fault." Sandy said.

Julie didn't believe a word and left the room looking for Ryan. Ryan, Seth and Summer were on their way back to the room when they ran into Julie.

"You'll never ever see my daughter again, you hear me." Julie said.

"Excuse me." Ryan replied.

"You're an irresponsible, no good, evil child who will never get his selfish hands on my daughter ever again." Julie said, "You almost took her life tonight and I will never let you do that again."

Ryan didn't have anything to say except, "I'm sorry."

"No bit of apology will right you from what you did." Julie said and stormed off.

"Ryan you didn't have to apologise to her." Summer said.

Ryan didn't say anything and left.

Ryan and Summer returned to Marissa's room expecting to find Ryan there but he wasn't.

"Did Ryan come back here?" Seth asked.

"No, why? Where is he?" Sandy asked.

"We just ran into Julie and she went off on him and he left. We thought he came here." Seth said.

"I wonder where he went." Kirsten said.

"Maybe he just needs some time alone." Sandy replied.

Ryan took a cab back to Newport, he couldn't stay at the hospital. Although he was worried about Marissa, he just couldn't stay there. He believed that Julie was right and he just needed to get away from everyone.

Sandy, Kirsten, Seth and Summer returned back to Newport. Summer went home and Seth immediately went to Ryan's room when they arrived home.

"Ryan." Seth said opening the door.

"What do you want Seth?" Ryan moaned.

"Ryan believe me, Julie doesn't have a clue about what she said." Seth informed.

"I was driving the car Seth and Marissa is in the hospital now." Ryan replied.

"Ryan she's going to be ok." Seth said.

Ryan didn't reply so Seth left.

Early the next morning Ryan took a cab back to the hospital knowing that Julie wouldn't be there yet. To his surprise Marissa was awake when he walked into her room.

"Hey." Ryan said when he realized her eyes were open.

Marissa looked at him confused.

Marissa didn't say anything and just looked at him with a confused look on her face.

"How are you feeling?" Ryan asked softly as he approached her.

"I'm sore and I have a headache." Marissa said just starring at Ryan.

Ryan leaned down to kiss her but Marissa didn't kiss him back.

"Why did you do that?" Marissa asked.

Ryan looked down at her and his heart sank.

"Do I know you?" Marissa asked.

"I'm Ryan, you don't remember me?" Ryan asked sitting down on the chair next to her bed.

"The doctor said that a Ryan was in the accident with me, is that you?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah." Ryan said looking down at his casted arm.

"Why was I with you?" Marissa asked.

"We were coming home from Chino, we were visiting someone in the hospital." Ryan replied.

"Who?" Marissa asked.

"Theresa's mom, my friend from Chino." Ryan replied.

"You're girlfriend?" Marissa asked.

"No, Theresa isn't my girlfriend." Ryan answered.

Just as Ryan finished saying that Jimmy walked in.

"Sweetie you're awake." Jimmy said smiling hard, "Ryan, how are you today?"

"I was doing better." Ryan said quietly.

Jimmy approached his daughter and kissed her forhead but Marissa still didn't know who he was.

"Kiddo, its me dad." Jimmy said.

"You're my dad?" Marissa asked.

"I knew she would forget some things but I didn't think she'd forget everything." Jimmy said hurt, "Honey do you remember Ryan?"

Marissa lightly shook her head.

"Sweetie Ryan is your boyfriend. He was in the accident with you and he was here yesterday sitting by your bed." Jimmy said.

Marissa met eyes with Ryan and she tried to remember but couldn't. She looked up at her father and could feel familiarity with him.

"I feel like I know you but I don't feel like I know you." Marissa said looking at her father first and then at Ryan.

The words stung Ryan and Marissa could see tears fill his eyes.

"I'm sorry." Marissa said.

"You'll remember honey, the doctor said once the swelling goes down you'll regain your memory again." Jimmy said.

Marissa nodded.

"Kiddo I'm going to go get a coffee and leave you and Ryan alone. Can I get anything for you two?" Jimmy asked.

"No thanks." Ryan replied.

"No." Marissa said. She hardly took her eyes away from Ryan, she could see the hurt in his eyes and she didn't know what to say.

"How did we meet?" Marissa asked.

Ryan smiled slightly, "We were neighbors, the first night I was at the Cohen's we met out by the road. You asked me for a smoke."

"I smoke?" Marissa asked.

"No." Ryan replied.

"Who are the Cohen's?" Marissa asked.

"Umm, they are my guardians. They took me in last year after my mom left." Ryan replied, "They are friends of your dad and mom, actually your mom is married to one of my guardians father."

"Would that make us related?" Marissa asked confused.

Ryan smiled, "We're not related."

"Good, I guess." Marissa said, "How long have we been dating?"

"Last weekend we had our 1 year anniversary." Ryan replied.

"We did? What did we do?" Marissa asked.

"We went out for dinner and then we went to the school carnival that you planned." Ryan replied.

"Oh." Marissa replied.

Summer and Seth came into the room.

"Coop! You're awake." Summer said happily and ran over to give her a hug. Summer looked over at Ryan and knew immediately that Marissa had lost her memory but was determined to help her out.

"Ok Coop, I'm Summer and like your best friend." Summer said cheerfully, "If you don't remember me I'm going to kill you when you do get your memory back."

Marissa couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you remember me?" Summer asked.

"Sorry." Marissa said.

"That's ok, we'll get you back. Coop is my nickname for you. This is my boyfriend, Seth Cohen." Summer informed.

"Cohen? You mentioned Cohen?" Marissa asked Ryan.

"Yeah, Seth's like my brother, I live with him and his family." Ryan replied.

"Oh." Marissa said.

"Ok Coop I brought pictures." Summer said pulling pictures from her purse.

Ryan was happy Summer did that and put a smile on his face.

"Ok Coop, this was your 3rd birthday party. Here you are, this is me, that is Holly who we don't talk to anymore but you don't need to know why right now, this is Sabrinna, Alex, Chris, Luke, and Nick." Summer said.

Marissa smiled and Summer showed her more. She went through the years and got up to the past year.

"This picture was taken not last summer but the summer before at the fashion show. I think it was like the first weekend that you met Ryan." Summer said and Marissa looked over at Ryan.

"Here is catilion, you're white night was none other than Ryan." Summer said, "Cohen dithed me for Anna."

Seth wrapped his arms around Summer, "At the time, you deserved it."

Summer kept going through the pictures and finally finished.

"Did the pictures bring anything back?" summer asked.

"No, you seem familiar though. Just like my dad did." Marissa said.

"Really!" Summer said giving her a hug, "That's cause we've known eachother for ever."

"I'm sorry everybody cause I don't know anyone." Marissa said.

Julie came into the room, "Honey you're awake."

Julie came in oblivious that Ryan was in the room.

"You're my mom?" Marissa asked remembering her from the picture.

"Yes, do you remember me?" Julie aske kissing her daughter.

"I just saw a picture and Summer pointed you out." Marissa said.

"Ryan? What are you doing here?" Julie said noticing him sitting beside her daughter.

"Visiting my girlfriend." Ryan replied.

"I told you you were not to see Marissa again. You've caused her enough pain. Get out and don't ever dare to come back to see her." Julie said.

"Hey, comeon Ryan is worried about Marissa. The accident was not his fault." Seth said.

"He's hurt her too many times. Leave Ryan before I call security." Julie said.

Marissa was looking confused she didn't know what to think.

Ryan got up to leave, "Bye Marissa, hope you feel better soon."

Seth and Summer left her room to speak to Ryan and left Julie alone with her daughter.

"Honey you don't need him here. He's caused you so much pain and its best if you never saw him again." Julie said.

"He seems like he isn't mean. Summer showed me pictures of us and I looked happy." Marissa said.

"Marissa sweetie, you overdosed because of him in Mexico, you began drinking heavily and had to go to counselling, he's extremely jealous over you and got expelled over it and to top it all off he got another girl pregnant while he was with you." Julie said not telling her the full stories.

Marissa's eyes began tearing up, "How could I have stayed with someone like that?"

"Honey he has had a pull on you. Maybe now you can finally get away from him." Julie said.

Ryan didn't return till later that day, when he knew Julie was gone.

When he entered Marissa's room, Marissa was gone. He went to the nurses station to find out where Marissa was.

"Hi, I was just in room 56 and there is nobody there. Can you tell me what happened to Marissa Cooper?" Ryan asked.

"She was released from the hospital today." The nurse informed.

Ryan called Sandy to pick him up.

The next day Summer picked the boys up for school.

"Ryan do you want to come with me to visit Coop today?" Summer asked.

"She got out yesterday, she's at her dad now." Ryan replied.

"Really that's great!" Summer said, "I'm sorry about Julie, I just hope she's not using Marissa's memory loss for her advantage."

Ryan's stomach turned hoping that Julie didn't do anything to jepordize Marissa and his relationship.

After school Ryan got dropped off at Jimmy's house to see Marissa. He knocked on the door and Jimmy answered.

"Ryan hi." Jimmy said letting him in.

"How is she doing?" Ryan asked.

"She's ok, she still doesn't remember much. She's up in her room, can you bring this up to her. She's hungry." Jimmy asked passing him a tray with some food on it.


	31. Chapter 31

Ryan knocked on Marissa's door.

"Come in." Marissa called out.

Ryan entered her room and smiled softly at her but didn't get the same response from her.

"How are you feeling? You're dad asked me to bring this up to you since you were hungry." Ryan said putting the tray beside her on the bed.

"Ryan I think we should break up." Marissa said not really feeling any emotiion for him.

Ryan looked at her stunned, not really believing the words from her mouth, "What?"

"I was talking to people about our relationship and I realized that loosing my memory is probably the best thing to happen to me. It gave me the chance to see things without any emotion and I don't think I we're a good match." Marissa said.

"Who were you talking to?" Ryan asked, "Because from my point of view we're a great match."

"It doesn't matter, I want you to leave Ryan." Marissa said.

Ryan studied her and knew that there wasn't anything he could do. He looked at her, "I love you Marissa."

As he said that he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Ryan? Where are you going? You didn't stay long." Jimmy said stopping him before he was out the door.

"Marissa just broke up with me." Ryan said still stund.

"What? Why would she do that?" Jimmy asked.

"She said she was talking to people and that loosing her memory was the best thing to happen to her because it allowed her to see things differently." Ryan said trying to fight the tears.

"Ryan I'm sure once she regains her memory she'll realize what she did. I'm going to go talk to her, why don't you give me a call later on tonight." Jimmy said.

Ryan nodded and left. Jimmy immediately went up to Marissa's room to see what happened.

"Kiddo, did you eat anything?" Jimmy asked entering her room.

"I will, I just needed a moment before I started eating." Marissa replied.

Jimmy sat down next to her, "So Ryan left pretty fast, what happened."

"I broke up with him." Marissa replied.

"Why? Once you get your memory back you're going to regret it baby." Jimmy said.

"Why would you say that? Don't you know how much pain he's caused me." Marissa said.

"What pain? I thought you couldn't remember anything." Jimmy said.

"I can't but mom was telling me everything that has happened because of Ryan, I don't know why I stayed with him this long." Marissa said.

"What exactly did your mom tell you?" Jimmy asked.

"She told me about Mexico and that I overdosed, she mentioned my drinking, Ryan's jealousy over me getting him suspended from school and to top it all off he got someone else pregnant while we were together." Marissa said, "I can't believe I stayed with him for so long."

"Marissa I can't believe she told you that. Those things did happen but they have stories behind them." Jimmy said, "All those things weren't Ryan's fault."

"What do you mean? How weren't the?" Marissa asked.

"When you went to Mexico I called you and told you that your mother and I were getting a divorce and you caught your boyfriend at the time, Luke, cheating on you with one of your best friends, Holly." Jimmy said.

"What?" Marissa said, "So that is why I overdosed in Mexico?"

"Ryan was with you in Mexico but he was the one who found you in an alley and brought you to a hospital, he save your life kiddo." Jimmy said.

"What about my drinking or his jealousy?" Marissa asked.

"You were drinking before you met Ryan baby." Jimmy said, "And the jealousy thing is a long story."

"Can you tell me about it, I hate not being able to remember and if I just did something I'm totally going to regret later I want to know." Marissa said.

"When you were going to counselling you met this boy, Oliver, who was going to counselling as well. You two became friends and Ryan didn't trust him. Eventually it came between you two and you broke up with him." Jimmy said.

"Because of his jealousy?" Marissa asked.

"Yes, you couldn't handle it any more. Ryan was still determined to find out as much as he could about Oliver so he broke into the school files and that was why he got suspended from school. You and Oliver were hanging out all the time after the break up and you were at Oliver's place when you realized that Ryan was right all along. When you called Ryan to come get you Oliver pulled a gun out. Ryan came with Sandy and Oliver was taken away." Jimmy said.

"Why would mom make it sound like he is such a bad person?" Marissa asked.

"Your mom doesn't like him because she doesn't think he's good enough for you. Ryan is from Chino and he doesn't have a very impressive past but since the Cohens took him in, he's been determined to turn his life around. And he's crazy about you Marissa and from what I thought you were crazy about him too." Jimmy said.

"What about Ryan getting another girl pregnant." Marissa asked.

"Oh ok, well after the whole Oliver situation you and Ryan didn't get back together for awhile. His friend showed up in Newport and Ryan started spending time with her. I guess while the two of you weren't together Ryan had sexual relations with her and after the two of you go back together he found out that she was pregnant." Jimmy said, "Ryan moved back to Chino but the two of you continued to see eachother. After about a month Ryan moved back and found out the baby wasn't his." Jimmy said.

Marissa was shocked, "He must be completely devastated."

"Yup, you two have never been happier." Jimmy replied.

"He probably won't want me back now that I broke up with him. He didn't take me back right after the Oliver thing." Marissa said.

"I think this is a total different situation." Jimmy said.

"Maybe I should just wait till my memory comes back, if it ever will." marissa sighed.

"Do what ever you want honey, why don't you take a nap and rest." Jimmy said getting up.

Marissa finished her lunch and fell asleep. She was woken up by Summer who came to visit.

"Coop Hey." summer said entering her room.

Marissa looked over at her and smiled.

"How are you feeling today?" Summer asked.

"We tell eachother everything don't we?" Marissa asked.

"Of course we do Coop, why are you ok?" Summer asked.

"I broke up with Ryan today." Marissa said.

"What?" Summer replied.

"Did I do the wrong thing?" Marissa asked.

"Coop, you and Chino are like the perfect couple." Summer said, "What made you do that."

"Just something someone said to me." Marissa replied.

"I know you're my best friend Coop but Chino must be miserable." Summer informed.

"Yeah he looked as if he was going to die when he left earlier." Marissa said.

"Poor Chino, I should call Cohen and get him to check up him." Summer said.

Julie came into the room as Summer and marissa were chatting.

"Summer honey, can I talk to Marissa alone?" Julie said.

"Sure, I'll come see you tomorrow Coop." Summer said.

Marissa brought up the conversation she had with her father. Julie turned everything around again making Marissa believe she did the right thing with Ryan.

Marissa wouldn't talk about Ryan to her father or Summer when they came to her room. Ryan called a few times to see how she was but Marissa wouldn't speak to him.

Ryan tried to keep his spirits up hoping that once she regained her memory things would be different but as the days went on his spirits started to fade.

It was now a week after the accident, Marissa still hadn't regained her memory and Ryan hadn't spoke to her since she broke up with him. Seth and Summer spent the evening with Ryan, trying to get his spirits back.

"So Chino, we just ordered a pizza. Hope you're hungry." Summer said sitting down next to Seth on the couch.

"I'm not that hungry guys but thanks anyway." Ryan replied.

"You might be when it gets here, we also rented a movie and you're watching it with us." Seth said.

"It's not you're guys responsibility to change my mood." Ryan said.

"You're our friend Ryan and we don't like seeing you so depressed." Summer said as he cell phone rang.

Summer saw who was calling and told the boys she was taking it outside.

"Coop?" Summer said as she answered. Marissa hadn't called her since the accident.

"Sum, can you come over?" Marissa asked.

"Sum?" Summer thought, "Coop are you back?" Summer asked.

"Just come, fast." Marissa replied.

Summer went back into the house.

"Sorry guys I have to go somewhere, I'll be back as soon as I can." Summer said.

Seth got up and walked Summer out, "Where are you going?"

"That was Coop, she wants me to go over. She called me Sum and I think she may have her memory back. Don't tell Chino though, just in case she doesn't." Summer said giving Seth a kiss before jumping into her car.

When she got to Marissa's she immediately ran up to Marissa's room. She found Marissa lying in bed, crying.

"Coop? What's the matter?" Summer asked sitting on the bed beside her.

"Sum!" Marissa said still crying and wrapping her arms around Summer.

"Coop, what's the matter? Did you get your memory back?" Summer said holding her friend.

"I was reading my journal that I found today and it slowly came back. How did I let my mother ruin things with Ryan?" Marissa cried.

"Omg Coop, you're back!" summer said happily.

"I broke up with Ryan, how could I have done that?" Marissa asked.

"Coop don't worry honey, you just were confused. Things are going to be ok." Summer said.

"Ryan is never going to trust me again." Marissa said.

"Yes he will, once he knows you're back he's going to be so happy. He was a mess all week Coop." Summer informed.

"Is he mad at me Sum?" Marissa asked.

"He's very angry, but not at you." Summer said.

"Who is he mad at?" Marissa asked.

"Your mom." Summer replied, "Coop let's get you ready and go out. You haven't been out of the house in a week."


	32. Chapter 32

Marissa got into the shower, although she was still unsteady on her feet. She was still pretty bruised up and it took a lot of energy to get ready. Once she was out of the shower and dressed, Summer helped Marissa do her hair and make up.

"Wow Coop, you don't even look like you were in a car accident." Summer said admiring her work.

"Where are we going Sum?" Marissa asked.

"We're going over to the Cohen's and you're getting Ryan back tonight." Summer said.

"Wait Sum, I can't just go over there." Marissa said, "I don't even know if he wants to see me."

"Coop he's going to be so happy that your memory is back.. He's been blaming himself for the accident and it's killing him thinking that he caused this." Summer said.

"What will I say to him?" Marissa asked.

"Tell him you're sorry and that you love him." Summer replied.

"Ok, let's do this." Marissa said bravely even though she was petrified inside that Ryan wouldn't take her back.

Marissa and Summer arrived at the Cohen's. Summer sat with Marissa until she was ready to go in. They got to the door and Summer knocked. Marissa realized that she was holding her breath but couldn't help herself. She saw a figure approach the door and she did it again, she was holding her breath again.

The door opened, "Marissa you're up and about."

"Yeah, I finally got my memory back." Marissa smilled.

Seth reached out and gave her a hug, "Are you here to see Ryan?"

Marissa nodded, "If he wants to see me."

"I have a feeling that he'll be happy to see you, he's been worried to death over you all week." Seth said letting the girls in.

"Where can I find Ryan Seth?" Marissa asked.

"He's up in his room." Seth replied.

"Coop you need some help walking upstairs?" Summer asked.

"Yeah that would be nice, I don't need to fall and hit my head." Marissa said trying to make a joke but no one else found it funny.

Summer walked up the stairs with Marissa and returned back downstairs to Seth while Marissa made her way to Ryan's door. She stood outside of it and couldn't bring herself to knock. She lowered herself down and sat with her back against the wall next to his door. She lowered her head down onto her knees and cried.

Marissa stayed where she was for a long time, at least a half hour until Ryan came out of his room.

"Marissa?" Ryan said as he noticed her sitting on the floor.

Marissa looked up, he face was red and blotchy from crying...she just looked up at him and couldn't find the words to say to him.

"Marissa what are you doing on the floor?" Ryan asked bending down.

Marissa eyes filled up with more tears and Ryan wrapped his arms around her, "What's wrong? Are you ok?"

"I'm sorry." Marissa sobbed in his arms.

"Come on, let's get you up off the floor." Ryan said helping her up. He knew she was probably still sore from the accident because he was, he gentally helped her up and lead her to his room and helped her sit on the bed. He pulled over his computer chair to sit in front of her.

"Marissa, what's the matter?" Ryan asked.

"Ryan, I'm so sorry." Marissa cried.

"It's ok, stop crying please. It's ok." Ryan said taking her hand into his.

Marissa slowly stopped crying and Ryan got her a tissue. She looked up at him and couldn't believe that her mother used the accident to come between her and Ryan.

"Ryan, I'm sorry for listening to my mother. I don't want to loose you Ryan. I love you with my whole entire heart and I made a horrible mistake by breaking up with you." Marissa said as she started filling up again.

Ryan kept her hand in his as she continued to talk, "My mother made me believe that you did all these horrible things to me and that my memory loss would be the best way to finally get away from you. I'm sorry for listening to her and I'm sorry that I broke up with you. I want you Ryan, I don't want to be without you." Marissa said.

"Do you have your memory back?" Ryan asked.

Marissa smiled at him, "Yes."

Ryan looked into her eyes, he gentally rubbed the tears from her eyes and gave her a simple kiss, "I missed you."

Marissa sighed and wrapped her arms around him, "I love you Ryan."

Ryan wrapped his arms around her and held her as close as he could, "I love you too."

Ryan held her and wouldn't let her go for what seemed like eternity. Eventually they separated and Marissa looked over at him.

"Ryan, Summer told me you were blaming yourself for the accident. Please don't, it wasn't your fault." Marissa said

Ryan looked down, "I'm sorry you this happened to you."

"Ryan, it's not your fault. Listen to me. I wasn't the only one hurt, you were too." Marissa said looking down at his cast.

Marissa's cell phone started ringing but it was in the hall.

"Ryan could you answer that for me?" Marissa asked.

"Sure." Ryan replied and left the room to answer her phone.

"Hello?" Ryan answered.

"Ryan? Is Marissa with you?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, she's here at my place." Ryan replied.

"How did she get there?" Jimmy asked.

"I think Summer brought her over, do you want to talk to her?" Ryan asked.

"Yes please." Jimmy said.

"It's your dad." Ryan said passing her the phone.

"Hi daddy." Marissa said as she put the phone up to her ear.

"Hey kiddo, you shouldn't have left the house." Jimmy said.

"I needed to come talk to Ryan, I'm sorry if I scared you." Marissa said.

"Does this mean you got your memory back?" Jimmy asked.

"I was reading my journal today and everything just came pouring back. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you about Ryan daddy, I don't know why I listened to mom; she nearly ruined my life." Marissa said.

"I'm so happy you're back kiddo." Jimmy said.

Marissa hung the phone up and looked up at Ryan.

"Ryan?" Marissa asked softly.

"Yeah?" Ryan answered.

"Are we ok?" Marissa wondered, "Because I hope what I did isn't going to damage what we had."

Ryan sat next to her on the bed and put his arm around her, "We're going to be ok."

Marissa looked up at him and kissed him. As they were kissing Seth and Summer came up the stairs and looked in at them.

"They're back together Cohen!" Summer said happily, although she was trying to be quiet about it Marissa and Ryan heard and pulled away from eachother.

"See Coop, what did I tell you?" Summer said entering the room.

"I know." Marissa said still in Ryan's arms.

"I'm so happy to have you really back, you had us all scared." Summer said hugging both Marissa and Ryan.

Kirsten and Sandy wandered up the stairs, knowing the boys were home but knowing they weren't downstairs.

"Seth? Ryan are you two up here?" Kisten called out.

"We're up here mom." Seth replied.

As Kirsten saw Seth she smiled, "How is Ryan doing today? Is he feeling any better?"

"Come see for yourself." Seth replied and Kirsten and Sandy walked into Ryan's room.

"Marissa!" Kisten said happily.

"Does this mean you have your memory back?" Sandy asked.

Kirsten went and gave Marissa a hug.

"Yeah, I got my memory back today and I never want to loose it again. It was the worst feeling not to remember anything or anyone, especially the ones I really loved." Marissa said taking Ryan's hand.

"You had this guy really bummed out, he was just as lost as you were I think." Sandy said.

Marissa looked down, "I feel terrible for what happened, I'm willing to do what ever I can to make it up to him."

"I think getting your memory back is just perfect for him, that was the main thing he was worried about. Wasn't it Ryan?" Kisten said.

Ryan looked at Marissa and smiled, "It's good to have her back."

"There is pizza downstairs that I see no one touched, why don't you guys go down and grab something to eat." Sandy offered.

"I think I could eat now, are you hungy?" Ryan asked Marissa.

"I can definitely try." Marissa agreed.

Everyone went downstairs, Ryan helped Marissa out and everyone sat at the dinner table. Everyone's mood was up and happy, they spent half the night talking and joking around.

At 2, Ryan could tell Marissa was exhausted.

"Is it ok if I take Marissa home?" Ryan asked looking over at Marissa who was fighting with her eyes to stay awake.

"Why doesn't she just stay. It's already 2 in the morning, none of you should be driving at this hour." Kirsten offered, "But Marissa if you want to go home, I'll drive you."

"Uh, I can stay. I'll just get someone to drive me home tomorrow morning." Marissa said.

Summer had already left awhile before, she offered to drive Marissa home but she wasn't ready.

"I'm sure we can trust the two of you tonight?" Sandy asked.

"We promise to behave Mr. Cohen." Marissa replied.

"We're off to bed then, good night." Kirsten said and they walked up to their room.

"You sure you don't want to go home?" Ryan asked.

Marissa smiled, "I'm positive but can we gone to bed now?"

Ryan nodded and helped Marissa back up to his room. Ryan grabbed one of his tank tops for Marissa to wear. Ryan left the room to let her get changed. She was feeling uncomfortable because of all the bruises she had, Ryan told her she was being silly but understood.

When he returned to the room Marissa was sitting up in his bed. Ryan took his pants and shirt off and crawled into bed next to her.

"You look beautiful." Ryan said.

Marissa knew she didn't with the stiches in her forehead and the big bruise taht covered part of her face but it made her feel good.

Ryan leaned over and turned the lights off. Ryan wrapped his arm around her and whispered good night. As he was saying good night Marissa kissed him, "Do we need to sleep right now?" Marissa asked.

Ryan was surprised, "We can't, you're too sore."

"Ryan I need you tonight, I thought I lost you forever and I want that feeling to go away. I want to show you how much I love you." Marissa said.

"Hey, I know. You don't have to prove it to me, you already have." Ryan said.

"Ryan don't make me beg you for it." Marissa slightly laughed.


	33. Chapter 33

Ryan was determined not to do anything that may make Marissa uncomfortable and he knew by making love to her with her bruises wouldn't be all that satisfying for her.

Ryan leaned over and kissed her, "I love you and that is why we're just going to sleep tonight."

Marissa looked at him with disappointment in her eyes, "I'm going to remember this, you better know that. Because when you want it, you're not going to get it."

Ryan laughed, "I understand."

Ryan made himself comfortable with Marissa in his arms and soon they were both asleep.

Ryan woke up around 9 the next morning, he looked over at Marissa who was sound asleep. He crawled out of bed as softly and quietly as possible and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Seth was sitting at the table eating his cereal and reading one of his comic books.

"What are you doing up so early." Ryan asked as he poured himself a glass of orange juice.

"Work calls, 11 today, fun stuff Ryan." Seth said closing his book.

"Oh, how are you liking it?" Ryan asked.

"Good, real good. The people are cool. There a girl Alex, she's fun." Seth replied.

"Alex, really?" Ryan asked in a "Someone has a crush" voice.

"Yeah, she like this skater girl. Fun. Dropped out of school. Smart." Seth said not paying attention to Ryan's tone.

"Yeah." Ryan replied sitting next to Seth at the table taking one of his comics.

"She said she's going to teach me how to surf." Seth informed.

"Surf? Your dad can teach you to surf." Ryan said.

"Ryan that's not cool, pops teaching me how to surf. I need a cool chick to teach me, Alex." Seth said.

"And how do you think Summer would feel about that?" Ryan asked.

"Summer, right?" Seth said and stopped talking.

After a few moments of silence Seth looked up at Ryan.

"So you and Marissa are back to normal huh?" Seth asked.

"Yeah." Ryan said simply.

"Are you happy about that, cause you don't sound like it." Seth replied.

Ryan looked up at Seth with a confused look on his face, "Why would you say that?"

"Well you answered my question with a simple 'Yeah', no 'I missed her, happy to have her back'?" Seth said.

"Seth, we were great before the accident and of course it hurt me when she broke up with me, but she had temporary amnesia and her mom used it against her. I'm happy she's back, I'm happy to have her back." Ryan said.

"See that's what I was looking for." seth replied.

Ryan gave him a glare and Seth nodded.

"Is Marissa in bed or is she gone home?" Seth asked.

"She's still in bed, we were up late with your parents." Ryan replied, "I was thinking about making breakfast and bringing it up to her."

"Awww, Ryan you are such a sweet boyfriend." Seth joked and Ryan throw him another glare.

"Where are your parents?" Ryan asked.

"They went shopping, they'll be back after lunch some time." Seth answered and looked up at the clock, "I'm going to jump in the shower now."

Seth left the kitchen and Ryan grabbed some eggs and fruit from the fridge.

Ryan cooked the eggs just as she liked them, scrambled, and put toast in the toaster. He prepared a fruit salad for her using every piece of fruit he could find: strawberries, bananas, grapes, melon, kiwi, pears, peaches, apples; the salad was full of different types of fruit.

Ryan put the breakfast on a tray with juice and a flower he picked from Kirsten's garden and brought it upstairs to Marissa. When he entered the room, Marissa was just getting up out of the bed.

"Breakfast is served." Ryan said giving her his amazing smile.

"Ryan!" Marissa said sitting back down on the bed, "You didn't have to do this."

"I know I didn't have to but I wanted to." Ryan replied and walked around the bed and sat down beside her, laying the tray on the bottom of the bed.

"Wow!" Marissa smiled and gave him a kiss, "Good Morning."

"Good morning, hope you enjoy this." Ryan said popping a grape into his mouth.

Marissa finished her breakfast and put the tray on the floor and looked over at Ryan.

"Thank you that was delicious." Marissa said moving closer to Ryan.

"Excellent." Ryan replied and allowed her to cuddle into him, "How are you feeling today?"

Marissa cuddled into him more, "I feeling better than I have all week. I'm not feeling sore today."

Ryan looked down at her not knowing if she was trying to hint at something.

Marissa smiled at him, "What do you think?"

"About what?" Ryan asked.

"I'm feeling better today and that breakfast was perfect." Marissa said with that look he could hardly ignore. Ryan also melted when she gave him that look. He leaned in and kissed her but the kiss was more than just a kiss. They were both very much into it.

After only about 2 minutes Kirsten was calling out for Ryan. Ryan pulled away from Marissa.

"I'll be right back." Ryan replied and went to meet Kirsten downstairs.

Ryan was gone for while so Marissa got dressed and went downstairs to bring the tray down.

"Hi sweetie, how are you feeling today?" Kirsten asked when she noticed Marissa coming down the hall.

"Better, thanks for letting me sleep here." Marissa smiled.

"Did Ryan bring you breakfast?" Kirsten asked.

"Yeah, it was so delicious." Marissa replied entering the kitchen and found Jimmy leaning again the island.

"Daddy, hi." Marissa smiled and went over to give him a hug and kiss.

"Hey kiddo, I'm glad you're feeling better." Jimmy said putting his arms around her.

"I hope you're not mad that I stayed here last night daddy." Marissa said sucking up to him.

"No, not at all. I'm glad you and Ryan worked everything out." Jimmy said as Ryan came into the house carrying bags.

"You're up." Ryan said surprised.

"Yeah, I figured it was time." Marissa said.

Ryan smiled at her as he left the room again for more bags.

"You should have seen him this week without out you Marissa, well not just that but worrying about you." Kirsten started but realized that Marissa probably felt horrible about it already.

"I know, I wish my mom didn't feed me all those lies." Marissa said.

"I had a talk with your mother about that yesterday, she's denying it and saying that you misunderstood her." Jimmy said.

"What?" Marissa said getting angry, "How could she lie about that?"

"She's saything that you just misunderstood her when she was talking to you. She said it was probably the medication you were on." Jimmy informed.

"Dad, do you believe her?" Marissa asked.

Ryan walked in and heard the tone in Marissa's voice. He didn't know what was going on.

"Hey is everything ok?" Ryan asked.

"My mom is saying that I misunderstood what she was telling me. She's saying that she didn't make me believe that everything that happened over the last year was your fault." Marissa said angry.

"Hey it doesn't matter. You shouldn't be getting upset cause you're not fully better yet." Ryan replied.

"But Ryan it does matter." Marissa said, "My mom blammed everything she did on you, she blammed everything on you."

"I don't care what you're mother says, she could blame everything that happens in Newport on me and it wouldn't matter." Ryan replied.

"Listen!" Marissa said getting frustrated, "She almost drove you out of my life twice Ryan. And dad she nearly destroyed you. She's hurt everyone I love and now she's saying that she didn't and blaming the car accident."

Marissa was getting angry.

"I want to make her pay. I hate her! I hate her!" Marissa said and broke down crying. She fainted and Ryan quickly caught her before she hit the floor.

Ryan took her into the living room and laid her down on the couch.

"Should we take her to the hospital?" Ryan asked sitting next to her.

"I'll call and see what we should do, I don't think we will have to she probably just fainted because she started over stressing herself." Kirsten said and left to use the phone.

Ryan sat next to Marissa and covered her over with a blanket, he ran his hand down over her hair and moved it away from her face. Kirsten came back in.

"They said to just let her sleep it off, she'll be just fine." Kirsten said.

Ryan sighed of relief and looked at her once more before asking Kirsten for the keys to the range rover.

"Sure their out in the kitchen." Kirsten replied confused, "Where are you going?"

Ryan looked at her and she knew immediately, "Please don't ask until I get back, if you don't mind."

Kirsten nodded her head not sure about it but she knew that it was something he knew he had to do. Ryan left the room for the keys and was out the door.

"Where do you think he's going?" Jimmy asked.

"Believe me Jimmy, you don't want to know." Kirsten replied.

Not long after Ryan left Marissa began to wake up, she opened her eyes and looked around. She was confused for a minute but everything came back to her. She looked over at Kirsten and Jimmy, Jimmy was standing up and Kirsten was sitting across from her.

"Hey kiddo." Jimmy said moving to sit next to her on the couch.

"Dad, what happened?" Marissa asked.

"You just passed out for a few minutes but you're ok. I think you just worked yourself up to much." Jimmy replied.

Marissa starred at him acknowledging what he said to her, "Where's Ryan?"

"He left for a few minutes, he had to go somewhere." Kirsten replied softly.

"What? Where did he have to go?" Marissa asked.

"I don't know, he didn't want to tell us." Jimmy replied.

Marissa gave them both a nervous look and closed her eyes dreading what was about to happen.


	34. Chapter 34

Ryan was driving down the road, he didn't know what he was going to say but he needed to say what was on his mind, she deserved it. She wasn't just hurting him but she was hurting Marissa, mostly Marissa. He was tired of hearing that he was such a bad boy, who really cares where you come from it's where you're going that really matter. The thoughts were spinning threw Ryan's head a million a second.

He finally made it, he pulled into the drive way and angerly walked up to the front door and knocked and Caitlyn answered.

"Ryan?" Caitlyn said.

Ryan tried to calm his temper down, "Hey. How are you Caitlyn?"

"Good. Umm Ryan, Marissa's not here." Caitlyn informed.

"Yeah I know, she's at my house with you're dad." Ryan replied.

"So what are you doing here then?" Caitlyn asked.

"Actually I was hoping to talk to your mother, is she home?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah. But why do you want to talk to her? Are you here to defrag mom's hard drive?" Caitlyn asked.

"Excuse me?" Ryan asked trying not to laugh.

"Luke used to come over to fix my mom's computer, is that why you're here?" Caitlyn asked.

"Uh." Ryan said trying to keep in the laughter, "No I'm here to talk to her."

"Come in, I'll go get her." Caitlyn said and left the room.

Ryan started remembering why he wanted to talk to Julie and his erge to laugh started to fade away but once he saw Julie walk towards him, he swore his face turned bright red from anger.

"Ryan? What do you want?" Julie asked.

"Do you know what you did to your daughter today?" Ryan asked slight bit of attitude in his voice.

"What are you talking about?" Julie asked.

"I'm talking about what you're lies are doing to your daughter. Do you have one ounce of morales or compassion?" Ryan said.

"Again Ryan, not knowing what you're talking about. I would never lie to my daughter." Julie said.

"Come one Julie, you used Marissa's memory loss to try to get her to break up with me blaming me for everything you did to her. You blamed me for her overdosing you blamed me for her drinking. Do you know what you're doing to your daughter." Ryan said.

"You're crazy Ryan." Julie said simply.

"I'm crazy, do you think you're daughter will ever trust you again. Do you think you'll ever have a relationship with your daughter again. I don't think so, you caused you're daughter to faint today because she was so angry with you. How could a mother be so cruel to their children." Ryan said, "I had a mother who walked out on me and my mother was more fit then you are."

Julie looked at him, "What gives you the right to speak to me that way?"

"I don't know why you don't like me, maybe it's because of where I'm from. You shouldn't judge anyone by where they came from, you of all people should know that. I love your daughter and I'm not giving up on her no matter what you say or do. The more you push your daughter about me, the further away she's going to go." Ryan said.

"You don't know what my daughter needs." Julie said.

"I know that she doesn't need someone whose going to bring her down like you've been doing her whole life. Why do you think she's so unhappy? Because of her dad? No! Because of her sister? No! Because of me? No, she was unhappy before she met me. Luke? Maybe once she found out about what he was doing but you, you're the cause of all her pain. Every last ounce of her pain. How does it feel to know that?" Ryan asked, yelling now.

"Get out of my house Ryan." Julie ordered.

"You don't deserve her, she'll never forgive you for the pain you've caused her." Ryan yelled and left slamming the door behind him

Ryan sat in the car knowing he had more to say to Julie but was affraid she would have called the cops on him if he ignored her request for him to leave. He pulled out of the drive way but pointed the car the opposite way to home. The cell phone that was left in the car started to ring, Ryan looked at the number and answered it.

"Hello?" Ryan answered.

"Ryan, thank god. You left here and you had us worried." Kirsten said.

"Sorry, I just had to let go of something that's been bugging me for a while now." Ryan said.

"IS everything ok?" Kirsten asked.

"Yeah. How is Marissa?" Ryan asked.

"She's ok, her dad is going to talk her home soon." Kirsten said.

"Ok, I think I'm going to go for a drive or take a walk for awhile. Do you need the car?" Ryan asked.

"No take as much time as you need. Would you like to talk to Marissa before they leave?" Kirsten asked.

"Yeah thanks." Ryan said and waited for Kirsten to put Marissa on the phone.

"Hello?" Marissa answered.

"Hey, how you feeling?" Ryan asked softly.

"Better now, you had me worried. Kirsten and my dad said you left so suddenly and got me all worried." Marissa replied.

"I'm sorry, I just had something I had to do." Ryan replied.

"Where did you go Ryan?" Marissa asked.

"That's not important right now but what is important is you getting your rest. When you leave with your dad make sure you rest and stop worrying about everyone and everything." Ryan suggested.

"I'll try, but only if you promise to visit me later." Marissa offered.

"Ok, go home now and stop worrying." Ryanr replied.

"You're going come right?" Marissa asked.

"I'll be there." Ryan said and they hung the phones up.

Ryan continued driving and ending up on the beach. He got out and started walking, after about just over an hour of walking he realized he was close to Seth's work and decided to stop in.

"Hey Ryan!" Seth said, "What are you doing here man?"

"I had to clear my head and I started walking and ended up here." Ryan replied

"Did you and Marissa break up again? I thought she got her memory back." Seth asked.

"No we're fine, it's your dearest grandmother that I have a problem with." Ryan said angerly.

"Oh yes, the new Julie Coo...oh no it's Nichol now." Seth smirked, "What did my favourite granny do now?"

"She was the one who tried to fill Marissa's head with stuff about me and then she denied every word. I was so angry I went over to her house called her on every scheme she pulled since I've been in Newport." Ryan informed.

"Way to go Ryan, standing up against Julie Cooper Nichol, you must have balls!" Seth said cleaning a table off.

"When Marissa heard that Julie denied everything today she was so mad that he caused her to faint." Ryan said.

"Really? How is she doing now?"

"Marissa is ok I think, well I know she will be once her mom learns how to be a mom." Ryan replied.

"Yeah I guess so." Seth said as his new boss came by. "Hey Ryan this is my pretty cool Alex, Alex my brother Ryan."

"I hope you're not looking for a job here cause having one Cohne around is enough." Alex joked.

"Nah, just needed to talk to Seth. Hope that's ok." Ryan replied.

"As long as he's doing his job I don't care what he does." Alex replied and smiled at Seth before walking away.

"Well I should probably get going, I left the about 5 miles away. I needed to clear my head before I went home so I started walking and ended up here." Ryan said.

"IF you want to wait for me, I'm finished in an hour." Seth offered.

"Nah, I think I could use the walk. See you at home." Ryan said and left.

Ryan arrived back at the car and drove home. Marissa had left with her father and Sandy and Kirsten were reading on the couch when he arrived.

"Ryan!" Kirsten said putting her book down, "Are you ok now?"

"Yeah sorry I left so quickly earlier." Ryan said.

"Did you go see Julie, because we think you did." Kirsten asked.

Ryan slightly nodded, "I just had stuff I needed to say."

"How did it go?" Sandy asked with a slight grin on his face.

"I'll just say she told me to get out." Ryan replied running his hand through his hair.

"You had Marissa worried about you, she knew you went to see her mother and thought you'd be brought home by the police." Sandy said.

Ryan slightly laughed and Seth came into the house.

"I thought I'd be home before you." Seth said throwing down the keys.

"I just go home." Ryan replied.

"Why how did you know Ryan wasn't here?" Sandy asked.

"He was down at the Bait Shop for a little while." Seth replied.

"Oh ok." KIrsten said.

"I promised Marissa I'd go see her today, Seth do you need the car?" Ryan asked.

Seth passed him the keys, "No Summer's stopping by later. But Ryan don't write off this one too."

Ryan gave him a 'don't go there' look and looked back to Kirsten and Sandy, "Do you mind if I leave?"

"No. let us know how she's doing. She still was pretty out of it when she left here." Kirsten asked.

"I will." Ryan said and left.

Ryan arrived at Jimmy's house and parked the car. He went up to the door and knocked, Jimmy opened the door.

"Ryan, hi." Jimmy said letting him in.

"Hey how's Marissa?" Ryan asked.

"She's sleeping. So Julie called a little while ago, you really got under her skin." Jimmy laughed.

"Yeah? I had a lot to say to her, didn't get it all out though." Ryan replied.

"She's pretty pissed off but I like it. You did what everyone else is affraid to do." Jimmy said.

"Well she deserves it, no mother should treat their daughter the way she does." Ryan said.

"I know, she's trying to live her life through Marissa. She wants Marissa to have everything she doesn't." Jimmy replied.

"Julie's married to the most powerful and richest man in Newport, what else could she want?" Ryan asked.

"Who knows with Julie. Well Ryan do you mind if I leave, I have some things to do and I didn't want to leave Marissa alone." Jimmy asked.

"No, go ahead. I was planning on staying a while anyways." Ryan said.

"Ok, she's been sleeping for almost two hours now. She should be up soon." Jimmy offered as he grabbed his wallet and keys.

"Ok don't worry about her, she'll be fine." Ryan said.

"I know you'll take care of her." Jimmy said and left.

Ryan didn't want to wake Marissa up so he sat down on the sofa and watched the game on tv. About 45 minutes later Marissa called out from her room.

"Dad did Ryan call?" Marissa called out and started slowly down the stairs.

"Dad?" Marissa said again before looking up and saw Ryan sitting on the couch looking up at her.

"Hey." He smiled, "Did you have a nice nap?"

"Hey, when did you get here?" Marissa asked.

"I don't know a little while ago." Ryan replied.

"Where's my dad?" Marissa asked sitting down beside him on the sofa.

"He had some stuff to do and when I got her he thought he'd get it done while someone was here with you." Ryan replied.

Marissa leaned over and gave Ryan a kiss and cudddled into him.

"How are you feeling?" Ryan asked brushing his fingers through her hair.

"Better." Marissa said softly.

"I think that movie you like it on, want to watch it?" Ryan asked.

"That one with the hooker." Ryan laughed.

"Ryan you're not supposed to think of her as a hooker, the movie is much more than that." Marissa replied, "It's called Pretty Woman."

Ryan smiled and turned the channel on to the movie. Ryan wrapped his arm around her and they both got comfortable under a blanket.


	35. Chapter 35

The movie was already started and Marissa had to fill him in on the beginning so he wouldn't be lost. About a half hour later Ryan's stomach started to grawl.

"Do you want me to get you something to eat?" Marissa asked.

"You stay here and watch the movie, I'll get something." Ryan replied, "You should eat something too. You probably haven't eaten since this morning."

"Yeah that would be great, thanks." Marissa said.

Ryan got up and went to the kitchen. He looked in the fridge and then in the cupboard. He had no idea what to make. He then heard Jimmy come in.

"Hey kiddo how are you feeling?" Jimmy asked.

"Better, you brought food!! Ryan was just about to make us something." Marissa said.

Ryan appeared and smiled, "I think you just saved me!"

Jimmy laughed, "I hope you like Chineese."

"Love it." Ryan replied and went to grab plates and utensils.

Marissa got up and sat down at the table.

"What do you guys want to drink?" Ryan called out.

"Water." Marissa replied. Jimmy second that and Ryan returned with three glasses of water.

"Do you think you're well enough to go back to school Monday?" Jimmy asked.

"I think so, I've missed a week already. I can't miss anymore." Marissa said.

"Are you feeling up to starting back?" Jimmy asked.

"I'll be fine daddy." Marissa said.

"Ryan I have plans with Hailey tonight, do you mind staying or we could just stay here tonight." Jimmy said.

"That's fine I'll stay." Ryan replied.

"You and hailey seem like you're doing well daddy." Marissa said.

"Yeah. I think Hailey is planning on moving away though." Jimmy replied.

"What?" Marissa said, "Why is she moving away?"

"I don't think she's happy here." Jimmy replied.

"But you just said that you two were doing well." Marissa said.

"We are, Hailey just isn't the type to be happy in Newport. She's used to traveling and living all over the place." Jimmy said.

"Are you guys going to break up?" Marissa asked.

"We just decided to take it day by day. I don't know what will happen next week." Jimmy replied

Summer arrived at Seth's place, he was sitting down with his parents when she came in. No knock, just walked right in.

"I see we're not knocking any more." Seth teased.

Summer looked up at everyone, "Oh, I'm sorry. Should I, I mean I didn't know if I should."

"It's ok Summer, you don't need to. Seth's just joking around with you." Sandy said.

"Thanks Mr. Cohen. At least one of the Cohen men is nice." Summer said sitting down next to Seth giving him a look.

"You still love me!" Seth said wrapping his arm around Summer's neck.

"Watch it Cohen." Summer replied.

Sandy laughed.

"How are you today Summer?" Kirsten asked.

"Good. How's Coop and Chino?" Summer asked.

"Oh well they're doing ok. Ryan's gone over to see her right now. Marissa stressed herself out this morning and passed out. I think she's doing better now." Kirsten replied.

"Really? Poor Coop. Can I use the phone to call her?" Summer asked.

Sandy passed her the cordless phone.

"Do you mind if I take this in another room?" Summer asked.

"Go ahead sweetie, take your time." Kirsten said and Summer nodded as she exited the room.

Summer dialed Marissa's home number and waited for someone to answer.

"Ryan can you grab that, I think Marissa is in the washroom." Jimmy asked as they cleared the table off.

"Sure." Ryan replied and answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Chino?" Summer asked.

"Hi Summer." Ryan replied.

"Sorry I didn't expect you to answer the phone. How's Coop doing?" Summer asked.

"She's ok she just went to the washroom. Do you want to talk to her?" Ryan asked.

"The Cohen's said that Coop passed out today, what happened?" Summer asked.

"She was just stressed out. I think she'll be fine now." Ryan replied as Marissa came down the stairs.

"I hope so." Summer replied.

"Marissa is here now, I'll put her on." Ryan said and handed Marissa the phone.

Marissa smiled at Ryan and said she was going to take the call upstairs in her room. Ryan nodded and waited for Marissa to answer it up in her room before hanging up.

"Do you want help Mr. Cooper?" Ryan asked.

"Nah, I just threw the dishes in the dishwasher. I'm heading out now, maybe you should call Sandy or Kirsten and let them know I asked you to stay." Jimmy said.

"Marissa's on the phone, I'll call them when she's off." Ryan replied.

"I'd rather you call them before I leave." Jimmy said and passed him the cell phone.

Ryan nodded and dialed home.

"Hello?" Summer answered.

"Summer?" Ryan said.

"Chino? Aren't you at Coop's?" Summer asked.

"Yeah, you're at the Cohen's?" Ryan stated.

"Yeah." Summer said.

"Can I quickly talk to Kirsten or Sandy?" Ryan asked.

"Ok, I'll just let Coop know she'll have to hold on a second." Summer said and clicked back to the other line and returned shortly after passing the phone to Sandy.

"Hello?" Sandy answered.

"Sandy it's Ryan." Ryan said, "I'm over at Marissa's and Jimmy made plans tonight. He asked me to stay with Marissa, if that is ok with you."

"He wants you to stay at his place?" Sandy asked confused.

"Yeah, I promise it's completely innocent and I'm only staying because Jimmy asked." Ryan said.

"Ok, make sure you're home early tomorrow morning." Sandy said.

"Thanks." Ryan replied and hung up.

"So it's ok with him?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah they're cool with it." Ryan said.

"Ok, tell Marissa I'll call her later on this evening." Jimmy said grabbing a bottle of wine from the fridge.

"Will do. Have a good night Mr. Cooper." Ryan said as Jimmy headed for the door.

"Ryan, it's Jimmy. Mr. Cooper doesn't seem right." Jimmy said and Ryan nodded.

Ryan sat down on the couch, he knew Marissa was on the phone with Summer and didn't want to interupt their conversation.

Although Seth was being impatient on the the other line.

"Summer, didn't you come here to visit me?" Seth whinned entering the backyard where Summer was sat on a pool chair.

"One minute Cohen." Summer said.

Summer and Marissa kept talking and Seth kept whinning.

"Summer I'm bored!" Seth complained.

"Go talk to your parents." Summer suggested hardly paying any attention to him.

"Suuuummmmeeeerrr." Seth said trying to kiss her neck.

"Cohen!" Summer yelled trying to swat him away like he was a fly that wouldn't go away.

"Summer why don't I go. Ryan's waiting for me anyway." Marissa suggested.

"I'm sorry Coop. At least you're boyfriend has patients!" Summer said giving Seth a dirty look.

"Come by tomorrow?" Marissa asked.

"I will, see you tomorrow Coop." Summer said and hung the phone up.

Marissa hung the phone up and looked in the mirror fixing her hair and fixed her make up to cover the last of the bruise remaining on her face. Once she was content with how she looked she opened her door and returned downstairs to Ryan.

"Sorry." Marissa said and sat down on the sofa.

"It's ok, Summer was worried about you." Ryan replied.

"Yeah, I couldn't get her off the phone until Seth starting nagging her. I don't think she's happy with him right now." Marissa smiled and looked over at the tv and Ryan did the same.

After a couple minutes Marissa started looking around, "Ryan where's my dad?"

"Oh he left while you were upstairs. He said he would call you later on to check up on you." Ryan replied.

"Oh, did he say what time he'd be back?" Marissa asked.

"I don't think he's coming home tonight." Ryan replied, "He made me call home and tell the Cohen's I was staying here."

"Oh." Marissa said trying to hide her smile but Ryan caught it and smiled back at her.

"You're kind of cute." Ryan softly said.

"Just cute?" Marissa teased.

"What's wrong with cute?" Ryan asked.

"Cute is a three year old with pig tails." Marissa said.

"17 year old can't be cute?" Ryan asked.

"Boyfriends aren't supposed to call their girlfriends cute, we're supposed to be sexy or hot. Cute is the girl next door." Marissa said.

"You were the girl next door." Ryan replied with a grin.

"You know what I mean Atwood!" Marissa replied, "You don't think I'm hot or sexy?"

"I think you're hot and sexy but right now you look cute." Ryan said, "I like cute. Actually, I really like cute."

"Well I guess for now cute is good." Marissa said moving closer to Ryan. She leaned in and kissed him, "Is my dad coming back at all tonight?"

Ryan shook his head and they continued kissing.


	36. Chapter 36

"Ok Cohen you have my attention." Summer said, "What do you want?"

"I don't know, I'm bored." Seth said.

"I was talking to Coop who nearly died last week and you wanted me off the phone just because you were bored?" Summer asked not happy.

Seth gave her a 'I'm sorry please don't be mad at me' look and leaned in to kiss her.

"Eww Cohen, not when I'm mad at you." Summer said standing up.

"Hey Summer come on. Where are you going?" Seth asked.

"Home, I'm punishing you for being a selfish ss." Summer said and walked away.

Seth sat on the poolchair for a few moments trying to wrap his head around what just happened. Still confused he walked into the house and his parents looked up at him.

"What happened?" Sandy asked.

"I don't know but Summer's mad. She just left." Seth said sitting down almost sulking to his parents.

"Well what did you do?" Sandy asked.

"Honestly?" Seth said, "I don't think I did anything."

"Seth honey Summer wouldn't just leave for no reason, did you say anything?" Kirsten asked.

"I said I was bored." Seth said.

"Well maybe she just has some things on her mind about Marissa and all. Don't worry about it woman get like that some times." Sandy said and Kirsten hit him with her book.

"I'm sorry honey it's true." Sandy said giving her a look.

"I think I'm going to go out for a little while mom." Seth said standing up.

Sandy and Kirsten looked at him shocked, "By yourself?"

"Yeah I think I'm going to go to the Bait Shop, check it out while I'm off." Seth said and left the room, "I need the keys since Ryan has our car."

Marissa and Ryan were busy making out on the couch when Summer came banging on the door.

"She'll go away if we ignore her." Ryan said really into the make out session they were currently involved in.

"Ryan we can't ignore her, she knows we're here." Marissa said still allowing Ryan to kiss her.

Summer banged on the door again.

"she'll go away." Ryan whispered and kissed her neck.

"Remember the other night when you weren't in the mood, well I said that it would come back to haunt you. Well this is the time!" Marissa said and pulled away from Ryan.

Ryan couldn't help but laugh, he didn't expect Marissa to actually use it. He fixed his cloths as Marissa got up to let Summer in.

"Summer, what are you doing here?" Marissa asked fixing her hair.

"Sorry Coop but Cohen's being an ss and I didn't want to go home to my step monster." Summer said and followed Marissa back to the couch and sat inbetween Marissa and Ryan.

"What did he do?" Marissa asked.

"He's being selfish, I was worried about you and all he wanted was attention. He was annoying me so I got up and left." Summer said.

"And why are you here?" Ryan asked.

Summer looked over at him and sighed, "Why are boys so stupid some times."

Marissa gave him a look and returned to eyes to Summer.

"Summer don't get upset, it's not like you two never fought before." Marissa said.

Summer shrugged, "I'm not upset that we had an argument. It just seems like this whole relationship is getting boring."

"Summer are you saying what I think you're saying?" Marissa asked.

"NO!" Summer said, "I don't know, maybe." Summer said.

"Summer come on you don't want to break up with Seth." Ryan said shocked, he wasn't going to let Summer hurt Seth.

"He just makes me so annoyed sometimes." Summer said, "And I can't handle it at times."

"Summer do you still love him?" Marissa asked.

"Of course I do Coop. But we're so different, he's like into comic books and I'm so not." Summer said.

"Isn't that what you love about him?" Marissa asked, "The fact that you two are so different?"

"I guess." Summer said, "Maybe Cohen and I need to take a break or something."

"Why?" Ryan asked worried about Seth and how he will take it.

"Because we're turning into a boring couple. We stay home and do nothing expect have sex." Summer said.

Ryan remembered what Seth told him when him and Summer first had Seth and Ryan let out a short laugh, "Sorry maybe you two should start doing something together. The Bait Shop is open now, maybe you two can start going there for fun."

"Yeah and once I'm all better we'll go too." Marissa said, "Sum it'll be fun."

Seth arrived at the Bait Club and was surprised it wasn't busy at all.  
He noticed Alex and walked up to talk to her.

"Seth, what are you doing here on you're night off?" Alex asked, "Can't get enough of this place or what?"

"Me and my girlfriend had a fight so I decided to come down and see how this place is doing." Seth replied.

"So you have a girlfriend?" Alex asked.

"Well I think so, we had plans tonight and before I knew it she left angry at me." Seth said.

"Well it sounds like you said or did something to piss her off." Alex replied.

"I don't know." Seth said.

"So can I get you a drink or somethign?" Alex asked.

"Yeah hit me with something." Seth replied sitting down on the chair.

Alex returned with a coke, "Sorry stud no alcohol. This is an all ages club remember."

Seth nodded and downed the coke she brought for him.

"I guess you two want me to leave." Summer said looking at Marissa then at Ryan.

"No of course not Sum, you can stay as long as you want. We weren't doing anything anyway." Marissa said and Ryan gave her a look. Marissa just shrugged.

"No Coop, I think I'm going to go home and figure everything out. I do owe it to Cohen to let him know what I'm thinking." Summer said and got up.

Marissa followed Summer to the door, "You want to be with Seth don't you?"

"Of cours I do Coop, I love him. But I don't feel like we're as happy as we should be." Summer confessed.

"Don't do anything just yet, make sure you know exactly what you want before you do anything." Marissa said.

"Thanks." Summer said and gave Marissa a hug, "Coop I'm glad you're feeling better. You had me scared to death."

"Thanks, talk to you tomorrow?" Marissa asked and Summer nodded as she left the house.

Marissa stood by the stairs and Ryan looked over at her, "What are you doing?"

"Want to go upstairs?" Marissa asked.

Ryan smiled and turned the tv off. He walked up to her and leaned in and kissed her cheek while taking her hand in his.

"You don't feel the way she does do you?" Ryan asked softly as they walked the stairs together.

Marissa looked into his eyes, "I don't feel the way she does at all."

Ryan nodded and they entered her bedroom.

Summer went home, got into her pajamas and crawled into bed. She picked up her journal that she wrote faithfully in every night and started writing. Once she was finished she reread what she had wrote and started crying. Writing in her journal always helped her understand the things she was feeling and she always relied on it to help her make important decisions. She eventually put the journal back inside the drawer beside her bed and cuddled into her pillows.

Seth was at the Bait Shop waiting for Alex to return. The place was getting busier by the minute. People were crowding the dance floor and the music was blarring.

"How you holding up?" Alex asked after returning from serving some students Seth recognized from Harbor.

"Not bad, could be better." Seth replied.

"Cheer up, people fight all the time." Alex said.

"I know." Seth mumbled.

"Besides you're only young, you shouldn't even be so serious about a girl at 17." Alex replied, "You're supposed to be experimenting."

Seth looked up at her confused, "Experimenting?"

"Yeah, if you stay with the same girl forever how will you know she's the right girl for you anyway?" Alex replied and left him alone while she went to help another customer.

Seth got up and waved good bye to Alex. He got into the car and drove home.

Marissa and Ryan were laying in bed, Ryan was holding Marissa as close to him as he could.

"How are you?" Ryan whispered and lightly kissed her cheek.

"Unbelievable." Marissa moaned as she traced her finger along the palm of his hand.

They laid together for another little while until spoke again.

"Are you tired?" Ryan asked.

"No." Marissa replied.

"What's the matter?" Ryan asked knowing something was up since she hadn't said anything.

"I'm just thinking about Summer and Seth. I hope they don't break up." Marissa replied and rolled over to look at Ryan.

"You know them they'll be fine tomorrow." Ryan said .

"I don't know Ryan, I've never seen Summer like that before." Marissa replied.

"Seth's going to be devastated if Summer decides to break up with him." Ryan stated.

"I know." Marissa agreed.

"Why don't we not think about them for tonight and if it happens we'll deal with it them." Ryan suggested.

"Ok, what do you want to do now?" Marissa asked reaching down to get her cloths.

Ryan pulled her back down into the bed, "I want to stay here in bed, we always have fun in here."

Marissa laughed and Ryan pulled her into him for a kiss.

Ryan got home fairly early the next day and went up to his room. He found Seth sitting on his bed waiting for Ryan to return.

"Hey." Ryan said as he entered his room.

"Took you long enough." Seth replied.

"What?" Ryan asked confused.

"I called Marissa's and she said you were on your way." Seth replied, "That was like...10 minutes ago."

"I didn't know I was being timed." Ryan replied.

"Look I know you're busy and you have Marissa and all but I need some Seth Ryan time, now!" Seth said.

Ryan nodded and sat down on his computer chair, "What's up?"

"Summer is mad at me." Seth informed.

"Yeah I heard, she was over at Marissa's last night." Ryan replied.

"Really? What did she say, did she tell you guys what happened, cause Ryan I don't know. She was fine one minute and the next thing I knew she was gone. I don't know what happend, come on man tell me what to do." Seth said.

"Ok you're rambling Seth." Ryan stated.

"Sorry. I'll be quiet." Seth said.

"Look man I don't know what is going on." Ryan said, he heard what Summer was saying the night before but he didn't want to worry Seth with something that may not even happen.

"Ok, I don't know either but I went to the Bait Shop last night and talked to Alex." Seth said.

Ryan cut him off, "You had a fight with your girlfriend and you run to your new boss?"

"Yeah." Seth replied simply.

"Don't you think it's weird to run to someone you just met?" Ryan asked giving him a suspecious look.

"No." Seth said, "But that's not the point Ryan, the point is that she made me rething everything."

"Rethink?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, maybe I'm too young to be in a relationship. I should be out and play the market."

"You want to play the market?" Ryan asked.

"Experiment, that's what Alex said 17 year olds should be doing." Seth said.

"Ok, what are you saying seth?" Ryan asked.

"Maybe Summer and I should stop seeing eachother for awhile." Seth said.

"Wow, is that what you really want to do?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know, do you think?" Seth asked.

"Seth that isn't a decision I should make, maybe you and Summer should have a talk." Ryan suggested.

"But Summer may kill me, she does have rage black outs." Seth said.

"I think you'll be surprised. Just talk to her, you might be able to work through this." Ryan said.

"You think?" Seth asked.

"Stop asking me that, it's your life and your relationship." Ryan said.

"Ok, I'm going to talk to Summer." Seth said, "Maybe you and Marissa should try a separation and we can be bachelors together."

Ryan looked up and gave him his trademark look.

"Enough said man." Seth laughed and left Ryan's room.


	37. Chapter 37

When Seth left Ryan's room, Ryan immediately picked up the phone and called Marissa.

"Hello?" Marissa answered.

"Hey." Ryan said.

"Hey, miss me already?" Marissa joked.

"Actually I talked to Seth, he was waiting for me when I got home." Ryan said.

"Really, he called here looking for you. Summer didn't breakup with him already did she?" Marissa asked.

"No but Seth is thinking about breaking up with Summer." Ryan informed.

"What? Why?" Marissa asked surprised.

"After Summer left yesterday he went to the Bait Shop and talked to this girl he works with..." Ryan said.

Marissa immediately cut Ryan off, "He better not have cheated on her."

"No nothing like that, but she did tell him that he shouldn't be worried about fighting with his girlfriend and be more interested in playing the field and experimenting." Ryan said.

"Really? And Seth listened to her?" Marissa said, "Is he interested in her?"

"He didn't say." Ryan replied.

"I wonder what she's like." Marissa said curious.

"Actually I met her yesterday." Ryan replied.

"What how did you meet her yesterday?" Marissa asked.

"I went for a walk and ended up at Seth's work and went in to see him. She was there and Seth introduced us, her name is Alex." Ryan said.

"Is she pretty?" Marissa sked.

"Uh, why?" Ryan asked.

"Because." Marissa replied waiting for an answer.

"She's not bad looking." Ryan answered.

"Is she Seth's type?" Marissa asked.

"I don't really think Seth has a type." Ryan said, "He dated Anna and Summer, two completely different girls."

"I guess, so she probably is Seth's type and she probably wants Seth. Why else would she tell him to experiment and play the field." Marissa said getting defensive, "Poor Summer."

"What? Summer is planning on breaking up with Seth anyway." Ryan said, "Maybe it's for the best since the both want to break up."

"But Summer didn't know what she wanted when she left last night." Marissa said.

"She sounded pretty convinced to me." Ryan replied.

"Did you tell Seth that?" Marissa asked.

"NO." Ryan replied.

"What did you say to him?" Marissa asked.

"I told him that Summer was at your house and she mentioned their fight or argument, what ever it was, and that they should talk before he makes any decisions." Ryan answered.

"Good." Marissa said.

There was a pause on the line for a few seconds.

"Ryan we can't let them break up." Marissa said almost crying.

"Maybe they need it right now, we can't force them to stay together when they're obviously not happy." Ryan said.

"But if they breakup, it might affect us." Marissa said.

"It's not going to hurt us, we'll be fine." Ryan said.

"Are you sure?" Marissa asked.

"Positive." Ryan replied.

"When do you think they're going to talk?" Marissa asked.

"Today I think. If they end up breaking up tomorrow is going to be a weird day." Ryan replied.

"Luckily we don't have the same lunch as you guys." Marissa said.

"I know and we're going to have to drive to school separately. Summer will want you to go with her." Ryan replied.

"And I'll have to leave school with her, see Ryan it's affecting our relationship already." Marissa complained.

Ryan laughed, "Don't worry Cooper."

Marissa let out a sigh, "I'm going to call Sum, see what she's planning on doing."

"Ok, talk to you later." Ryan replied and they hung up.

Marissa didn't know what to do. She picked up the phone and dialed Summer's number.

"Hello?" Summer answered.

"Hey Sum, how are you?" Marissa asked.

"I'm fine, how are you?" Summer asked, "Are you feeling better?"

"I'm doing much better but I have had you on my mind ever since you left last night." Marissa informed.

"Coop I'm fine, really." Summer said.

"Have you talked to Seth?" Marissa asked.

"Uh, he's on his way over. I called him earlier and asked him to come by." Summer said.

"Really? Did you make up your mind about what you're going to do?" Marissa asked.

"Actually I have." Summer said and paused trying not to cry, "But I really don't want to talk about it right now Coop."

Marissa understood completely, "Sum, you know I'm here if you need me right."

"I know Coop." Summer said and changed her tone, "How was you're night with Chino?"

"You really want to know with things that are going on with you and Seth?" Marissa asked surprised.

"Of course Coop." Summer replied.

"It was amazing but every time is amazing with him." Marissa said nearly melting from the thought.

"That's great Coop, I love you and Chino together." Summer said.

"So do I" Marissa replied.

"Maybe we can hang out tonight? Rent a movie?" Summer asked.

"Sounds like a date, 7?" Marissa asked.

"Excellent, well Cohen should be here any minute. I'll come by later." Summer said and hung up.

Summer waited patiently in her room for Seth to arrive. Seth was sitting outside in the car rehearsing what he wanted to say to Summer, he wanted to say it perfectly to make sure she really realized how he felt. Once he felt he had enough nerve he got out of the car and made his way into Summer's house and up to her room and lightly knocked on her door.

"Come in." Summer called out and Seth came walking in.

Seth gave her a slight smile and sat down across from her on the bed. Summer looked Seth in the eyes and nearly started to cry but stopped herself before the tears came out.

"We really need to talk Cohen." Summer said softly.

"I know we do." Seth agreed, "Maybe you should let me start."

Summer nodded and waited for him to start.

"Summer do you know how much I love you?" Seth asked.

Summer looked up at him and nodded yes.

"Summer do you know that I would do anything in the world for you?" Seth asked.

"I know." Summer whispered.

"I did a lot of thinking last night I realized the only way you and I can work in the long run...." Seth said and stopped for a second to look Summer in the eyes.

She opened her mouth to say something but closed it before anything came out and Seth continued.

"I realized that maybe we should take a break from eachother and truly find out if we are meant for eachother." Seth said and by the end tears were slowly coming from his eyes.

Summer was crying now, "You want us to break up?"

"I want us to take some time and figure everything out." Seth said.

"What if we figure out we aren't meant for eachother?" Summer asked.

Seth took her hand into his and ran his thumb over it, "I hope we're meant for eachother Summer. But don't you want to know now instead of later?"

Summer nodded, "I love you Cohen, you do know that right?"

Seth leaned into Summer and kissed her lips, "I love you too."

Seth wrapped his arms around Summer and held her while she cried, "Cohen can I be honest with you?"

"Yeah." Seth said.

"I was going to say the same thing to you." Summer said.

Seth didn't say anything and just held her hoping it wouldn't be the last time he would hold her.

"Promise me something." Seth asked.

"Anything." Summer replied.

"If you do fall in love with someone else, tell me that you've moved on." Seth asked.

Summer started crying harder at the thought that this may be the last time she would ever be in Seth's arms again.

"Summer promise me." Seth asked softly.

Summer nodded, "I will."

Seth eventually got up and left, Summer curled into her bed.

Later on that day Marissa arrived at Summer's house, no one besides Summer was home so she walked in and found Summer int he kitchen.

"Hey Coop." Summer said cheerfully.

"Hey." Marissa replied surprised by her mood, "What are you doing?"

"Cooking, I'm hungry and I'm sick of ordering out so I decided to cook myself something." Summer replied.

"Really? What are you cooking?" Marissa asked.

"Speghetti." Summer replied, "At least I'm trying right?"

Marissa nodded and sat down at the table, she was curious to know what happened with Seth but didn't want to bring it up.

"So Coop, I'm a single lady today." Summer said flatly.

"You broke up with Seth, how did he take it?" Marissa asked feeling sad.

"Actually Coop I didn't break up with Cohen, he broke up with me instead." Summer said like it had no affect on her.

"What?" Marissa replied confused.

"He came by and I said that we needed to talk and he agreed and asked to go first." Summer started, "He said that he loved me and that he wants to be with me but he believes that the only way we can be together in the long run is to break up now."

Marissa felt like she was going to cry, "And you're ok with it?"

"Well Coop I'm not mad at Cohen, I was going to break up with him today any ways." Summer said.

"Do you still love him Sum?" Marissa asked.

"Of course I do." Summer replied, "I hope we do get back together but right now this is the best thing for the both of us."

Summer stirred her sauce quietly and Marissa continued to sit quietly not knowing what to say.

"So Coop, did you get a movie?" Summer asked.

"Yeah, I didn't know how you would be feeling when I got here so I got A Day after Tomorrow, what do you think?" Marissa asked.

"I think you called that pretty good, I didn't want to see any sappy movies tonight." Summer confessed and pulled a plate down fromt he cupboard, "Coop want to try some?"

"Nah I just ate." Marissa replied, "Can I grab a drink though?"

"Get what you want, you know where everything is, you've been coming here for like ever." Summer said and took her food over to the table.

Marissa sat quietly as Summer ate her dinner, as she was waiting Marissa's cell started ringing.

"Sorry Sum." Marissa said and left the room to answer it.

"Hello?" Marissa answered.

"Hey." Ryan said.

"Hey." Marissa replied.

"I was thinking about dropping by, want some company?" Ryan asked, "Seth's gone out to the Bait Shop."

"Actually I'm not home." Marissa said.

"Really?" Ryan replied.

"I'm at Summer's, we planned a movie night." Marissa said.

"Oh that's good, how is she? I heard about their breakup." Ryan replied.

"I thinks she ok, if she's not she hiding it really well." Marissa replied, "Seth's gone to the Bait Shop? Is he working?"

"No." Ryan replied.

"Maybe you should go out with him, I'm a little curious about this boss of his." Marissa said.

"You want me to check up on him?" Ryan asked.

"Well not exactly check up on him but check the situation out." Marissa said.

"I'll give him a call. You want me to go to a club, by myself what if I pickup someone?" Ryan joked.

"Than you'll have to deal with me later." Marissa replied and Summer walked in, "Ryan Summer's ready to watch the movie, call me later?"

"Sure." Ryan said and hung up.

"Who was that, Chino?" Summer asked.

"Yeah he just called to see if I wanted him to come over to my place." Marissa replied.

"Do you want to go home?" Summer asked.

"No I want to stay here, Ryan just doesn't want me being alone." Marissa replied.

"Oh, did Cohen tell him about our break up?" Summer asked.

"Uh, I don't think so Sum." Marissa replied.

"Really?" Summer replied in shock, "I wonder why, Cohen tells Chino everything."

"I don't know, I don't think he's home Sum." Marissa said, hoping she wouldn't ask where he was.

"Really, maybe he's working." Summer said, "So want to watch the movie now?"

"Yes." Marissa replied relieved and followed Summer up to her room.

Ryan dialed Seth's cell and waited for Seth to answer.

"Hello." Seth answered.

"Hey man, what are you doing?" Ryan asked.

"Ryan hey, I'm at the Bait Shop." Seth replied, "You should drop down."

"What are you doing down there on a Sunday night?" Ryan asked.

"Just hanging out, you coming down?" Seth asked.

"Yeah. I'll be there in a little while." Ryan said and hung up.

About 20 minutes later Ryan walked into the doors of the Bait Shop and found Seth sitting with his boss at a small booth near the corner of the club.

Seth noticed Ryan and waved for him to join them, Ryan walked up.

"Ryan you remember Alex right?" Seth asked and moved over to let Ryan sit down.

"Yeah hi." Ryan said giving her a quick grin and looked over at Seth.

"I guess Marissa told you what happened today?" Seth asked noticing the way Ryan looked at him.

"Yeah I just talked to Marissa a little while ago, she's over at Summer's right now watching a movie." Ryan confessed.

"Yeah, did she tell you that Summer was planning on breaking up with me." Seth said.

"Hey man you know she loves you." Ryan stated.

"You know Seth, I should get back to work. I'll talk to you later." Alex said and got up to leave.

"See you tomorrow, I work at 5." Seth asked.

"I'll be here." Alex smiled and walked away.

"I know she loves me Ryan and I love her but I think we needed to do this for now." Seth replied, "Besides it gives up more Seth Ryan time."

"I'm sure you won't be available any more than you were before." Ryan stated.

"What, why not." Seth asked confused.

"Cause I think you have your eyes on a new girl." Ryan gave him a half smile.

"Who?" Seth asked not knowing who Ryan was talking about.

Ryan looked over at Alex and then back at Seth.

"Who Alex?" Seth said, "Why would you say that?"

"You had a fight with your girlfriend last night and ended up here. You then break up with your girlfriend today and look where you end up, here." Ryan replied.

Seth shook his head, "Nah you're crazy Ryan."

Seth was quiet after that, Ryan could tell he was thinking.

"You should come clean to Summer, if she finds out you're working on someone else she's going to flip out." Ryan informed.

Seth didn't say anything and after a couple of minutes he suggested they go home, Ryan nodded and followed Seth out of the club.


	38. Chapter 38

Seth and Ryan arrived at school a little earlier than normal.

"I guess tomorrow we can leave later now that we don't have to pick up Marissa and Summer." Seth said.

"Yeah, so what are you going to say to Summer if you see her today?" Ryan asked.

"I'm hoping that we can be friends, we left things on really good terms." Seth replied.

"Are you sure that is what she wants? Are yous ure that is what you want?" Ryan asked.

"Of course, Summer is a great girl." Seth replied as they walked to their lockers.

Seth was bent down putting books into his bag and Ryan looked down the hall.

"Are you ready to see her, cause she's walking this way with Marissa." Ryan informed and gave Marissa his classic smile.

Seth's head immediately turned towards the girls. Summer noticed Seth and stopped walking and stopped Marissa.

"Coop. I'm going to go to my class, see you at lunch?" Summer asked.

"We still have lots of time. Why are you going so early?" Marissa wondered but noticed that who Ryan was with, "OK Sum, I'll see you at lunch."

Summer smiled at Marissa to thank her for understanding and walked in the opposite direction Ryan and Seth were. Marissa continued until she reached the boys.

"Hey." Marissa said giving Ryan a quick kiss, "Hey Seth."

"Where did Summer go?" Seth asked.

"Ummm." Marissa said trying to think quickly, "She just remembered she had to talk to one of her teachers about a project."

"Oh." Seth replied not believing one word, "I should go too, see you at lunch Ryan."

Seth walked off and Ryan turned towards Marissa, "This is going to be fun."

Marissa nodded, "See I told you, it's going to affect us eventually."

"Not if we let it." Ryan smiled and reached his hand out for Marissa, "Want me to walk you to class?"

Marissa smiled and accepted his offer.

At lunch time Marissa met Summer at their usual table and sat down with her.

"How was your morning Sum?" Marissa asked.

"The usual, hey lets ditch the afternoon and go shopping or go get a facial." Summer suggested.

"We can't, I have a quiz to make up this afternoon. You won't believe how much work you can miss in one week." Marissa replied, "But we can go after school."

"Nah that's ok maybe some other time." Summer mumbled and played around with her food, "This is like the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten."

Marissa just watched Summer and wished there was something she could do to make her feel better.

"Sum, are you ok?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah of course, why wouldn't I be." Summer said a little to fast.

"Well you did just break up with your boyfriend. It's ok to be sad about it." Marissa informed.

"I'm not sad Coop, I'm just disappointed that he beat me to it." Summer defended by knew Marissa wasn't buying it.

"Ok Sum." Marissa replied, "He asked what happened to you this morning when you took off."

"He did?" Summer said surprised.

"Yeah, he does still love you Summer." Marissa infomed.

"Hey Coop, why don't we go out Friday night? Just us girls, no Ryan and no Seth." Summer suggested.

Marissa smiled, "Really go out?"

"Really, we'll get dressed up and go out and maybe check out that new club. You'll just have to make sure Cohen's not working." Summer replied.

"Cool, sounds fun." Marissa smiled and Summer smiled back.

Once Marissa and Summer were back in class, Ryan and Seth were out for their lunch. They met up at their usual table and sat down to eat.

"I can't believe Summer's going to be avoiding me now." Seth stated.

"What do you expect Seth?" Ryan asked, "It might be a little hard for her."

"But it shouldn'be." Seth replied.

Ryan didn't say anything and waited for Seth to start talking again.

"Hey man I don't have to work Friday." Seth informed.

"Ok?" Ryan replied not sure what he was getting at.

"We should go out just the two of us." Seth replied.

"Like we did last night?" Ryan asked.

"No last night wasn't any fun. They're having this cool band at the Bait Shop on Friday night, we should go check it out." Seth suggested.

Ryan wasn't really sure he wanted to go but he could tell Seth wanted and needed this, "Sure."

"Really? Ryan Atwood agreed to go to a party without any hesitations." Seth stated, "No asking Marissa if it's ok."

"Seth shut up." Ryan laughed and they continued to eat.

Ryan and Marissa had plans for Tuesday night, he knocked on her door at 7 and Marissa opened it with a huge smile.

"Hi, where are we going?" Marissa asked letting him in.

"Ryan hi, how are you?" Jimmy called out from the couch.

"Good, you?" Ryan asked back.

"Excellent, so you and Marissa are going out tonight?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, I was thinking we'd go play mini golf." Ryan said looking over at Marissa for her approval.

"That sounds fun, we haven't done that before." Marissa smiled and grabbed a jacket just incase.

"I won't be late daddy." Marissa said walking over to him to give him a kiss.

Not long after Ryan pulled into the miniture golf course.

The two were having a blast joking around with eachother.

"So Summer wants to go out Friday night." Marissa informed.

Ryan immediately looked up at her, "Really, where does she want to go?"

"The Bait Shop, but she wanted me to find out if Seth was working first." Marissa answered.

"No he's not working Friday." Ryan simply said.

"Oh, she'll be happy. She's looking forward to a girls night out." Marissa informed.

"Seth wants to do the same thing, he wants to go see this band on Friday night at the Bait Shop. I promised him I'd tag along." Ryan replied.

"Wow, what should we do?" Marissa asked, "Summer won't go if she knows Seth will be there."

"How about we all go and pretend like we didn't know." Ryan suggested.

"Good plan." Marissa agreed.

On Friday Marissa and Summer made plans to go out for dinner and then head to the Bait Shop. Marissa didn't mention anything to Summer about the boys also going, all she told Summer was that she was positive that Seth would not be working.

Summer arrived at Marissa's place around 7 and went to meet her in Marissa's room.

"Coop you're not dressed, whats up with that?" Summer asked flopping down on her bed.

"I don't know what to wear, it's been so long since we actually went to a party Sum." Marissa said going through the clothes laid out on bed.

"No problem Coop." Summer smiled and started rumaging through the clothes and eventually picked out the perfect Marissa outfit.

She held up a satin slip shirt and a skirt, "Coop this is perfect, put it on.

"Wow Sum, you're good." Marissa smiled and took the clothes.

Marissa was completely ready 5 minutes later and the girls headed down to the Crab Shack for supper.

"Too bad you're not single, we could have so much fun tonight Coop." Summer said as she looked at the menu.

Marissa looked up and laughed, "I'm not breaking up with Ryan just cause you and Seth are taking a break."

"I know, I just thought it would be fun." Summer replied and took a sip of water, "I know how happy you two are."

"Even though you probably don't know this but I know you and Seth will end up back together, just wait and see." Marissa said softly and in a way that she didn't want Summer to respond.

"So did Chino have a problem with you coming out with me tonight?" Summer asked.

Marissa looked up at her a smiled, "Not at all, he's planning on hanging with Seth tonight anyway. I didn't tell him where we were going."

Marissa felt horrible lying to Summer but what else was she supposed to do.

Summer and Marissa took their times eating because they didn't want to get to the club too early.

"So Coop have you realized we have some hotties going to our school this year?" Summer asked.

Marissa shook her head as she took a sip of her drink.

"Yeah I have one in my economics class and I've been catching him looking at me this week." Summer said.

"Sum are you ready to start dating again?" Marissa asked.

"Well yeah." Summer said, "How else are Cohen and I supposed to know if 'we're meant for eachother'."

"Have you talked to him?" Marissa asked.

"Nope, but I was talking to Trish who happened to be sitting next to him at the time and informed her that I would be at the Bait Club tonight, loud enough for him to hear me." Summer said, "I'm hoping he'll be there tonight."

Marissa laughed, "That's Summer."

Summer looked over at her and smiled, "It's not like I could just go up to him and tell him to go, if he's there tonight I'll know he's interested."

"What's his name?" Marissa asked.

"Zach, he plays water polo." Summer replied with a huge smile on her face, "He has the cutest smile ever."

"Well I guess we'll find out when we get there." Marissa said and looked down at her watch, "It's 8:30 ready to go?"

"When ever you are Coop." Summer said and got up, Marissa followed.

They arrived at the Bait Shop shortly after, Marissa looked around the parking lot for the boys car.

"Good, they're not here yet." Marissa thought to herself as Summer parked the car, "Hopefully they don't get here till the parking lot is full."

"Coop you look distracted, what's the matter?" Summer asked.

"Nothing, just looking around. There's not many people here." Marissa said.

"Well hopefully it'll pick up later on." Summer said and wrapped her arm around Marissa's and they headed inside.

"Wow this place is bigger than I thought it would be." Marissa said looking around.

"I know it's huge, lets walk around and find a good place to stand." Summer said. Marissa nodded and the girls started looking around.

After about 30 minutes the place had filled up. Marissa and Summer had made their way upstairs and were looking down at everyone when Ryan and Seth came in.

"OMG Coop look who's here." Summer said pointing towards the door.

Marissa looked, "What are they doing here?"

"Coop did I thought you didn't tell Chino where we were going tonight." Summer stated.

"I didn't Sum, he didn't tell me what him and Seth were doing either." Marissa lied, "It's a coincidence Sum, Seth does work here so he did know about the band tonight."

"I'm sorry Coop, lets go see if we can find Zach." Summer said brushing off what she just saw. Marissa hesitated for a second still looking down at Ryan.

"Wow he looks good." Marissa thought to herself. Ryan looked up and acknowledged that he saw her, Marissa gave him a slight wave before Summer pulled her to find Zach.

Seth didn't notice Summer or Marissa but did notice Ryan looking up stairs.

"What are you looking at bro?" Seth asked.

Ryan looked over at Seth, "Uh, I thought I saw Marissa, but I must have been seeing things."

Ryan wasn't good at lying so he basically told Seth the truth, but not the whole truth.

"Let's go find Alex, she mentioned that she might be here tonight." Seth said nudging Ryan to start walking. Ryan sighed and followed.

Ryan felt like he was single again, he was so used to having Marissa by his side along with Seth and Summer. He wasn't used to this any more and he didn't miss it one bit.

Summer and Marissa looked around upstairs but couldn't find Zach, Summer sighed, "Coop I guess he's not interested, let's just go downstairs."

Marissa nodded and followed Summer to the stairs, Summer was walking with her head down and walked right smack into someone.

"Oh I'm sorry, I should be payiiii." Summer said and looked up, "Uhh, hey, Zach right?"

Zach gave Summer a smile, "I was hoping to run into you tonight."

"Really? You came here to see me?" Summer blushed.

"Yeah." Zach replied.

"Oh umm this is my best friend, Coop. Actually her name is Marissa, I just call her Coop cause her last name is Cooper." Summer said realizing she was rambling.

Marissa laughed, "She may not realize it but her and Seth are so meant to be." Marissa thought to herself.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Marissa smiled, "Don't mind Summer she rambles like that when she's nervous."

"Hi, do you go to Harbor too?" Zach asked.

"Yeah." Marissa replied.

"Summer would you like to dance?" Zach asked.

"I'd love to but I shouldn't just leave Coop here by herself." Summer said looking up at Marissa.

"No it's ok Sum, go have fun. I'm going to walk around for a bit." Marissa replied.

"I'll come find you after." Summer said taking Zach's hand and he lead her downstairs to the dance floor. Marissa smiled and made her way downstairs to look for Ryan.

Ryan followed Seth around as he looked for Alex, eventually they found her sitting alone in one of the booths.

Seth stopped, "Should I just go up to her?"

"Go for it man!" Ryan replied.

"Nah I shouldn't, you'll be left by yourself." Seth said.

"Go for it, I can take care of myself." Ryan replied.

Seth nodded and slowly approached Alex. Ryan looked up to see if Marissa was still where he had last saw her, when she wasn't he started looking around for her.

Marissa saw Ryan standing just a few feet away from her, she smiled and started walking up to him. He was stood back on to her so she slowly made her way up to him. When she was close enough to him she wrapped her arms around him and kissed the back of his neck.

Ryan jumped, "Hey what do you think you're doing."

Ryan immediately turned around and Marissa smiled at him. He returned the smile, "Sorry I thought you were someone else."

"Why are there girls hitting on you tonight?" Marissa asked as she held on to his shirt.

"No, I just didn't know who was kissing the back of my neck." Ryan replied and gave her a look over.

"I guess I'm happy you snapped like that just incase someone was trying to hit on you." Marissa said and noticed Ryan staring at her, "What?"

"You look...uh." Ryan started, "Really good."

Marissa smiled, "You like?"

"I think I like it a little too much." Ryan confessed and Marissa pulled him in for a kiss.

Seth must have seen Ryan kissing a girl cause he immediately marched up to Ryan and tapped him on the shoulder, "Ryan don't you think Marissa's going to go bazzurk on you knowing you're kissing randoms."

Ryan pulled away from their lip lock and gave Seth his look, "Randoms?"

"Oh sorry, Marissa what are you doing here?" Seth asked shocked.

"Uh, Summer wanted to come out tonight and we ended up here." Marissa confessed.

"Ryan did you tell her that we were coming here?" Seth asked as Alex came up to them.

"Nope, they had no idea. I didn't even know they were coming here." Ryan said and looked away.

"Seth I thought you were getting us some drinks." Alex said grabbing onto Seths arm.

Marissa gave her a look and Seth noticed.

"Marissa this is Alex, Alex this is Marissa Ryan's girlfriend." Seth said a little uncomfortable, "We're going to get drinks."

Seth immediately left without letting the girls even say hi to eachother.

"I can't believe how quick those two found new people." Marissa said amazed.

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked.

"Summer came here tonight with her eye on this guy named Zach, they're out dancing together right now." Marissa confesssed.

"Really." Ryan said looking around the dance floor for Summer and this new Zach guy.

"Are you having fun?" Ryan asked.

Marissa looked up at him, "I kind of want to dance."

Ryan looked at her, "Really?" Hoping that she would forget the idea.

"Ryan come on, no one is going to be looking at you. Seth's busy with his new girl pal and Summer's off with Zach. No one will ever know you danced with your girlfriend."

Ryan hesitated by finally agreed and Marissa took his hand and led him out to the middle of the dance floor.

After a couple of songs a slow song started playing, Ryan pulled Marissa close to him and held her tight as they swayed to the music.

Marissa noticed not to far away from her Summer and Zach dancing. Summer had a huge smile on her face as Zach was talking. Marissa couldn't help but watch them. By the time the song was over, the two were standing still on the dance floor kissing.

"Ryan look." Marissa said and Ryan looked over to see Summer and Zach kissing.

"Look over this way." Ryan said and pointed to Seth and Alex on the other side of them, just a few couples away. They were also stopped and kissing.

"What if they see eachother?" Marissa asked.

"I don't think they will, they both are too busy to realize what's going on around them." Ryan replied.

Another slow song started to play and Marissa looked up at Ryan to see if he wanted to stay out on the dance floor or if he had enough.

Ryan smiled and wrapped his arms around Marissa and they stayed on the dance floor.

"Is it weird, things aren't supposed to be this way. It's supposed to be me and you, Summer and Seth." Marissa whispered looking over at the two other couples.

Summer was finished kissing Zach and looked up to see Marissa, she waved and Marissa nervously waved back. Summer noticed who Marissa was dancing with and pulled Zach over close to Marissa and Ryan.

"Chino? When did you get here, Coop did you call him?" Summer asked.

"No he showed up here." Marissa replied.

"Seth and I came." Ryan informed trying to block Summer's view to Seth and Alex but it didn't work.

"Eww, whose Cohen dancing with?" Summer demanded.

"Oh that's just his boss. They bumped into her a little while ago." Marissa said trying to make it sound completely innocent.

Summer studied Marissa's face and dropped it, "Anyways Chino this is Zach he's in my economics class."

"Hi." Ryan said.

"Zach this is Coop's boyfriend, Ryan." Summer said looking up at Zach.

Zach shook Ryan's hand.

"Summer, I'm hungry do you want to go grab something to eat?" Zach asked wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Coop can you go home with Chino right?" Summer asked.

"Yeah no problem." Marissa agreed.

"I hope you're not mad, we had a girls night planned and all." Summer asked.

"No it's completely cool, I may have been a little annoyed if Ryan wasn't here." Marissa confessed.

Just before Summer and Zach left Seth and Alex approached Ryan.

"Hey Ryan I was kind of hoping that..." Seth said and stopped when he noticed who Ryan and Marissa were talking to.

"Summer?" Seth said.

"Uh hi Cohen." Summer said looking down.

"What's going on, who's this?" Seth asked.

"Ummm, you know what we were kind of in a hurry so we should go." Summer said and pulled Zach towards the door.

"Ryan what was that about, is Summer on a date with that guy?" Seth asked.

"Look man I don't know but I don't think you should be all that mad with what you were just doing." Ryan replied.

"Was that your ex girlfriend?" Alex asked.

"Yeah that was her." Seth informed.

"She's seems kind of snobby." Alex replied.

Ryan and Marissa looked over at her and she stopped talking, Seth wrapped his arm around her neck, "Alex and I are going to get something to eat."

Before Marissa and Ryan knew it they were gone.

"Maybe we should leave to." Marissa suggested.

"You won't believe this but we now don't have a ride home." Ryan said slightly laughing.

Marissa sighed, "Figures!"

They walked off the dance floor thinking about what they were going to do.

"We can walk home." Marissa suggested, "It'll take us about an hour but it's beautiful out there tonight."

Ryan thought for a minute and took her hand, "Yeah let's walk home."

Ryan and Marissa finally arrived at Marissa's house.

"I'll get the car keys and drive you home." Marissa offered opening her door.

"You don't have to, you should probably get some rest." Ryan replied.

"It's ok, I'm not all that tired yet. Besides I'm not letting you walk another half hour by yourself." Marissa replied, "Come in for a few minutes."

Marissa left Ryan and went up to her room to grab her car keys, she noticed her dads door closed and realized he must be home and in bed. Marissa returned back downstairs quietly and found Ryan sitting on the couch.

"Do you want to stay awhile or go home now?" Marissa asked standing behind the couch and started rubbing his shoulders.

"If you keep that up you'll never get me to leave." Ryan smiled tilting his head up to look at Marissa. She smiled down at him.

"My feet are killing me, those shoes are definitely not walking shoes." Marissa complained.

"Come sit down, I'll rub them for you." Ryan suggested.

"No its ok." Marissa replied but sat down next to him on the couch.

Ryan looked over at her, she was looking extremely hot. The shirt showed just enough to drive him crazy.

Marissa looked over at him and noticed the look he was giving her, "Ryan my dad's home."

Ryan laughed, "We can be quiet."

"Ryan!" Marissa smiled, "Maybe I should drive you home now."

"Ok I'll be good, I promise." Ryan promised and pulled her in to cuddle with him.

"I still can't get over Seth and Summer tonight." Marissa said.

"I know but their break up could have been worse." Ryan informed.

"You're right." Marissa agreed and yawned.

Ryan looked down at her and her eyes were slowly shutting but he could tell that she was trying hard to keep them open.

"I'm ready to go home, but I'm going to walk." Ryan said getting up.

"No Ryan, please let me drive you." Marissa said jumping up off the couch with her keys in hand.

"You're tired." Ryan said while putting on his shoes, "I don't mind walking, really."

"I'm not taking no for an answer Ryan." Marissa said sternly.

Ryan hesitated but waited for Marissa to get her shoes on and followed her out to her car.

The car ride home was pretty quiet, Marissa pulled into his driveway and parked the car and looked over at Ryan.

"Thank you." Ryan smiled got out of the car. She waited till he walked around to her window and rolled it down.

"Be careful driving home, blast the air conditioning, it should keep you awake till you get home." Ryan suggested.

Marissa smiled at the way he was trying to take care of her, "Talk to you tomorrow?"

Ryan nodded and leaned in and gave her a kiss, "Good night, love you."

Marissa smiled, "I love you too."

Ryan watched Marissa back out of the driveway and drive away then finally entered the house and went straight to bed.

Seth wasn't home yet, they went through a fast food drive-thru and parked down by the beach.

"So are you ok about seeing your ex with someone else tonight?" Alex asked.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, I mean I didn't like it or anything but it could have been worse." Seth replied looking over at her.

"I don't think she liked seeing you with me." Alex replied, "I don't think Ryan and his girlfriend liked it either."

"Well Marissa is Summer's best friend and we used to do everything together. It just something they need to get used to, but they are great people." Seth replied.

Alex smiled and leaned over and kissed Seth, "I hope we can do this again."

Seth smiled and put his drink down and lightly placed his hand behind her head pulling her lips into his to kiss her again.

Summer and Zach were sitting in a quiet ocean side restaurant just outside of Newport. They were sitting in the back, Zach had was eating and Summer just ordered some pie.

"So when that guy came over and we hurried off, what was that about?" Zach asked.

"What?" Summer asked wanting to avoid the question.

"Come on Summer." Zach said, "Honestly I like you and I'm assuming you're into me as well. Are you involved with him?"

Summer looked up at him and knew she had to tell him the truth, "We were, we broke up not to long ago. It was the first time I saw him with someone else and the first time he saw me with someone else. I guess it's just akward that's all."

Zach had finished eating and pushed his plate away to the side. Summer has her hands figiting on the table, Zach reached over and took them into him.

"Are you ready to move on or should I hold back for a little while?" Zach asked with complete sincerity.

Summer looked up at him and smiled, "I like you Zach."

"And." Zach waited.

"Do you want to go out with me tomorrow night?" Summer asked.

Zach smiled and leaned over to kiss her, "Shouldn't I be the one asking you out on a date."

"Well ask me then." Summer replied letting her face sit only centimetres from his face.

"Summer will you go out with me tomorrow night?" Zach asked.

"Depends where you take me." Summer smiled.

Zach moved back about 2 inches, "Why don't we go out for dinner and then a movie. Something simple and nothing to serious, just take this slow since you just broke up with someone else." Zach suggested.

Summer smiled and Zach leaned in and finally kissed her, "Why don't you take me home now before I let myself get carried away tonight."

Summer smiled and Zach threw money on the table and followed Summer out to her car.


	39. Chapter 39

The next day Marissa called Summer to see how the rest of her night went.

"Hello?" Summer answered in a really cheery mood.

"Hey Sum." Marissa replied, "How did the rest of your night go?"

Summer smiled just remembering it, "It was great, we're going out for dinner and a movie tonight."

"Really?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah, first he asked me about Cohen and I was honest with him about recently breaking up with him. He asked if I was ready to start seeing people and if I wasn't he said he's hold off until I was." Summer said, "He's so great Coop!"

"Wow Sum, that is really....great." Marissa said really wanting her to get back with Seth.

"How did your night go?" Summer asked, "DId you stay at the club much longer?"

"Well Seth..." Marissa started, "Ryan and I ended up leaving not much longer after you left."

"What about Cohen?" Summer asked, "I kind of felt bad for him seeing me with someone else."

"Actually Seth left with Alex." Marissa replied feeling horrible.

"Eww, he actually left with that whore?" Summer said.

"Summer!" Marissa replied.

"Well look at her, she does look like a whore." Summer defended.

"Summer you left with Zach, it's not like he was doing anything you weren't doing." Marissa informed.

"Yeah anyways, did you and Chino go with them?" Summer asked feeling a little betrayed.

"Actually they took off quickly and Ryan and I had to walk home." Marissa replied.

"Really, how long did that take you?" Summer asked.

"About an hour to walk here then I got the car keys and drove Ryan home." Marissa replied.

"Oh, so was Cohen home then?" Summer asked.

Marissa laughed, "I don't care what you or Seth say, you two will be back together before we know it."

"What ever Coop!" Summer replied, "I should go, the step monster is leaving today and daddy wants us to have a family lunch."

"Ok, call me before your date tonight." Marissa replied and hung up the phone.

Ryan came down from his room and found Seth, Sandy and Kirsten at the kitchen table eating.

"Good morning." Sandy said, "Grab a cup of coffee and join us."

Ryan nodded and followed Sandy's instructions but grabbed a bage before sitting down.

"So how was your boys night out?" Sandy asked the boys.

"Great, lots of male bonding." Seth replied.

Ryan gave him a look.

"No bonding went on there buddy?" Seth asked.

"No bonding with me, but maybe with Alex." Ryan replied.

"Alex? Who is Alex?" Kirsten asked.

"Seth's new boss or girlfriend?" Ryan replied before Seth could say a word.

"Really so soon?" Kiristen asked, "You just broke up with Summer sweetie, don't you think moving on, especially with you boss right now is a bad idea? What if Summer finds out, she'll be crushed."

"I know what I'm doing mom. Thanks Ryan." Seth said, "Besides Summer was out with a guy last night too."

"Really? Summer was out, what about you and Marissa Ryan?" Sandy asked.

"We're fine, she was there last night too." Ryan replied, "Our rides ended up taking off on us so we had to walk home."

Ryan looked over at Seth and gave him a look.

"Sorry man." Seth replied.

Nobody said anything for a few minutes, Ryan looked up and realized it was weird to have both Sandy and Kirsten home on a Saturday morning.

"Why aren't you two working today?" Ryan asked, "It's unusual to have both of you home eating breakfast with us on a Saturday."

"Actually Sandy and I are taking today off, we're going to Palm Springs for the night." Kirsten said.

Ryan nodded, "You two deserve a night away from work."

"Thanks Ryan. So what do you boys have planned for tonight?" Sandy asked.

"I'm working till 1, the parentals are gone and I have to work...figures." Seth mumbled.

Sandy laughed, "Ryan what is on your agenda?"

"Nothing, maybe I'll catch up on some reading." Ryan replied.

"You don't have plans with Marissa tonight?" Sandy asked.

"We didn't make any." Ryan replied. "So what time are you two taking off?"

"We're leaving after lunch, Seth what time do you have to work?" Kirsten asked.

"I start at 7." Seth replied.

"Well your father and I are going to get groceries, do you boys want anything picked up?" Kirsten asked.

"Pudding!" Seth exclaimed.

Kirsten nodded and looked over at Ryan who shook his head.

Kirsten and Sandy left leaving Ryan and Seth alone in the kitchen.

"Sorry man about making you guys walk home, I must have though Marissa had her car." Seth apologised.

"No problem, I actually enjoyed the walk." Ryan replied.

"So Summer tood off pretty fast last night." Seth said.

"Well it was a pretty awkward moment." Ryan replied, "You were the one who decided it was best to see other people."

"I know, Summer deserves someone, um..." Seth started but couldn't find the right words.

"who is you?" Ryan finished and Seth gave him a look.

"Hopefully." Seth replied.

"Are you regretting breaking up with her?" Ryan asked.

"No, I'm glad we did. I just hope that we do end up together." Seth replied.

"I'm sure she feels the same way, but some times I don't know why." Ryan joked and patted Seth on the shoulder.

"Thanks buddy." seth replied and brought his dishes to the sink, "I think I'm going to go for a swim."

Seth left the house and Ryan decided to take a shower.

After Ryan got out of the shower he started his reading but was interrupted by the phone.

"Hello?" Ryan answered.

"Hey." Marissa said.

"Hey." Ryan replied.

"Are you busy?" Marissa asked.

"I was just reading, you know trying to catch up." Ryan replied.

"Oh, well call me back later when you take a break or something." Marissa asked.

"Wait, what are you doing tonight?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing." Marissa replied.

"The Cohens are going to Palm Springs tonight and Seth is working late, want to come over?"

"Really?" Marissa replied happily.

"Yeah, I was thinking maybe you can come by around...8?" Ryan replied

"Sounds great." Marissa replied.

"So I was thinking maybe you shouldn't eat." Ryan suggested.

"Did you want to order something in? I can bring something over if you want." Marissa replied.

"No that's ok, just be here by 8." Ryan replied.

"Great, I'll let you get back to studying." Marissa replied.

"Ok, see you at 8." Ryan replied and hung up.

Ryan spent the rest of the day catching up on his studies until Seth left for work at 6:30. Once he was gone Ryan went down to the kitchen to get everything ready for when Marissa arrived. He pulled out the ingredients for the mac and cheese he planned to make, he didn't know how to make it but he was determined to try.

By ten to eight he had the table set, candles and all, and was taking out the mac and cheese from the oven. He had also made grilled cheese sandwiches just in case.

Five minutes later Marissa was knocking at the door, Ryan went and answered the door.

"Hey!" Marissa said as he opened the door.

Ryan smiled and leaned in to kiss her.

"Hungry?" Ryan asked.

"Starving, what are we having?" Marissa asked.

"You'll see." Ryan replied and lead her into the kitchen.

Ryan pulled out the chair for Marissa and then sat across from her, she looked down at the dinner he prepared and looked up with a huge smile on her face.

"It's nothing fancy." Ryan stated, "But it has meaning right?"

Marissa nodded, "It's perfect."

Ryan started eating as did Marissa but a few moments after Ryan reached for his glass and realized he didn't put anything on the table.

"Thirsty?" Ryan asked looking up.

"A little." Marissa replied.

Ryan stood up and took his and Marissa's glasses over to the island and opened the fridge.

"What do you want?" Ryan asked.

"It doesn't matter, anything is fine." Marissa replied.

"How about a glass of wine?" Ryan asked looking over at her.

"Are you going to have one?" Marissa asked.

"Sure, why not." Ryan replied and poured some into the glasses and brought them back to the table.

"Ryan this was really great, really sweet." Marissa smiled up at him.

"Thanks, I had to eat anyways." Ryan joked.

"Nice!" Marissa responded lightly kicking his leg under the table but instead of returning it back to its original position she kept her foot pressed up against his, lightly rubbing his.

Ryan looked up and smiled at her, "You're not eating much."

Marissa looked down at her food, "Sorry, I'll eat it. I really like it."

Ryan nodded and continued eating while Marissa was eating slower than normal. She looked preoccupied about something.

"Hey what's the matter?" Ryan asked.

"Guess who called Summer today." Marissa said.

"Who?" Ryan asked curious.

"Lori, she's coming to Newport next weekend with one of her friends, I forget which one." Marissa informed.

"Oh." Ryan replied, "Why are you worried about it?"

"I don't know, she's not coming with her so called boyfriend and it seems to me that she is still pretty into you." Marissa replied.

"I don't think so, but it doesn't matter. I'm not into her." Ryan replied. Ryan started running his foot up along Marissa's bare leg and looked into her eyes, "There's only one girl I'm interested in."

Marissa blushed, "I trust you Ryan, I really do. It's just that I don't trust Lori."

"Don't worry, I won't even see her anyways." Ryan replied and got up to clear the plates from the table.

Marissa decided not to ruin their evening by talking about Lori so she decided to change the subject, "How did your reading go Ryan?"

Marissa got up to help him with the clean up.

"Good, almost caught up." Ryan replied and started putting things into the fridge.

"That's good, when is your test?" Marissa asked while filling up the sink to start the dishes.

"Wednesday, I don't think I have much to worry about though. The book is actually easily remembered." Ryan replied.

"That's good." Marissa said and turned away from his to do the dishes.

Once Ryan had everything put away he walked behind Marissa and wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck, "You're so beautiful, do you know that?"

Marissa giggled with an embarrased laugh, "Ryan."

"What it's true." Ryan said and ran his hands under her shirt, across her stomach while still kissing her neck.

"Ryan, the dishes need to get done." Marissa moaned enjoying it way to much.

Ryan didn't stop and kissed her neck and ear while whispering how much he loved her.

Marissa turned around and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight against her, "Why don't we do these dishes and then go watch a movie, I brought one with me."

Ryan nodded but leaned down and kissed her first, "OK."

Once the dishes were done Ryan got the movie ready and Marissa went up to his room to put one of Ryan's sweaters on and grab a blanket and then returned back down to Ryan.

"Want another glass of wine?" Ryan asked picking up his glass and Marissa's.

"Sure why not, I guess I'll have to stay here tonight." Marissa winked, "Hey was that you're plan? Get Marissa drunk?"

Ryan laughed, "No but getting you on the go enough that you can't drive home is a good idea though."

Marissa smiled and got herself comfortable on the couch. Her cell phone started to ring while she waited for Ryan to return, Marissa looked at the number and decided to answer it.

"Sum aren't you supposed to be on a date?" Marissa answered.

"I am, we were supposed to watch a movie but they all started already plus they're all stupid. I suggested finding out what you and Chino were doing and maybe we could kind of double date." Summer said.

"Well Ryan and I are about to watch a movie at the Cohen's, maybe he'll be oke with you guys stopping by to watch it with us." Marissa suggested.

"Coop! Cohen?" Summer said.

"DOn't worry, he's working till like 1 or 2." Marissa informed.

"Well ask Chino if he minds." Summer said.

"Ok hold on a sec." Marissa replied and put the phone down to go talk to Ryan.

"Ryan?" Marissa called out as she walked towards the kitchen.

"Yeah?" Ryan said appearing before her with the wine.

"Ok, um Summer is on the phone and she wanted to know if she and Zach could watch the movie with us?" Marissa asked.

Ryan wanted to spend the night alone with Marissa but agreed anyways, "Sure no problem."

"Are you sure?" Marissa asked, "Cause if you don't want to then I can tell her no."

"I don't mind if you don't mind." Ryan smiled at her.

Marissa nodded and they returned to the living room and Marissa picked the phone back up, "Sum?"

"Yeah?" Summer replied.

"Come on over, we have the movie ready so the sooner the better." Marissa replied.

"OK, we'll be there in like 5 minutes." Summer said and hung up.

"I hope Seth doesn't get off early and bring Alex home with him." Ryan said nervously.

"I know what you mean." Marissa agreed and they got comfortable together on the couch.

Summer and Zach were there in less than 5 minutes. Summer was so used to walking in she didn't even bother to knock. They entered the house and found Marissa and Ryan waiting on the couch..

"That didn't take you long." Marissa stated.

"Yeah we were closer than I though, you guys remember Zach right?" Summer asked.

"Yeah, hey man." Ryan said putting his hand out to Zach.

Zach accepted the hand shake, "Ryan."

Marissa greeted him with a smile and a hey.

"So how was your dinner?" Marissa asked.

"It was so romantic, Zach brought me flowers when he picked me up!" Summer smiled and sat down on the couch.

"Really, that was sweet." Marissa replied.

"What did you two do today?" Summer asked.

"Ryan made me dinner tonight." Marissa smiled at Ryan.

"Wow Chino who knew!" Summer joked.

"Hey lets watch the movie, we want to have it over before Seth gets home." Ryan stated.

Zach looked over at Summer, "Your ex boyfriend lives here?"

"Yeah, oops I didn't tell you that?" Summer asked.

"No you kind of left taht part out." Zach said, "So you and Seth live together?" Zach said directing it at Ryan.

"They're like brothers and they're best friends." Marissa informed.

Zach was obviously annoyed, "You should have told me Summer. Why did you want to come here knowing you might run into him?"

"Zach Coop's my bestfriend and she is dating Ryan, you want to get to know my friends too right?" Summer asked, "That means getting to know both Coop and Chino."

Ryan was a little annoyed with Zach but he just turned the movie on hoping that Seth didn't come home till Summer and Zach were gone.


	40. Chapter 40

Ryan wasn't all that interested in the movie and spent most of the time looking out the window. Almost at the end of the movie Ryan saw carlights come up the drive way, he immediately jumped up.

"Hey what's wrong?" Marissa asked Ryan.

"I think Seth's home." Ryan said and walked out of the room.

Marissa looked over at Summer who had paid no attention to what just happened.

"Hey Sum, I think Seth just got home." Marissa informed.

"What?" Summer replied, "Really, do we have enough time to leave?"

Just as Summer said that she could hear Seth's voice.

"Hey man, whose car is out in the driveway?" Seth asked.

"Uh Seth, I know you may not like this and I apologise before but Summer is in the room with Zach." Ryan informed quietly.

"What? Why is she here with him?" Seth asked.

"She called marissa and wanted us to hang out with them, that's why she is here, we had a movie rented." Ryan replied.

"Oh well this should be fun cause Alex is on her way over." Seth replied half smiling and headed into the room.

"Hey Marissa, Summer and guy I believe is Zach." Seth said and sat down next the Summer and Zach.

"Cohen?" Summer replied.

"What, you're in my house on a date. Just want to get to know him. Hey man I'm Seth." Seth said reaching his hand out for Zach.

Zach looked at him with a confused look but shook his hand anyway.

"This Summer is a jewel isn't she?" Seth said, "Just to let you know man, she's not into foreplay, she likes getting to the deed right away. Just to clear up any questions."

Ryan and Marissa looked up at him shocked at what he just said.

"Cohen! Why are you being such an ss?" Summer asked angerly.

"What just trying to help the guy out." SEth replied.

"Well don't!" Summer replied, "Zach maybe we should leave."

"Don't leave on my account." Seth said standing up and moving seats, "Stay this should be an interesting evening."

Just as Seth finished talking the door bell rang, Seth jumped up quickly, "That's for me, I'll be right back."

Seth returned shortly with Alex, who looked over at Summer, "What's she doing here?" She asked quietly but loud enough for people to know what she said.

"She was here when I got home, but this will be a good evening I can just tell." Seth said.

Ryan pointed the remote towards the tv and stopped the movie; Marissa looked up at him confused.

"It's not like anyone here is about to let us finish the movie." Ryan stated.

"Yeah I guess you're right, maybe we can finish it in the morning." Marissa replied adjusting herself to get more comfortable.

Alex and Seth sat down, Alex looked around at everybody, "Hi Ryan, Marissa." Alex said looking at them, "Summer and Zack right?"

"Yeah." Summer replied and immediately looked away, "So Coop!"

Alex looked over at Seth, "Well I guess someone doesn't like me."

"Don't worry, Summer just needs to get to know you first." Seth said quietly, "She's not as bad as she likes to project."

Alex nodded.

"So Seth, why are you finished so early?" Marissa asked.

"They had too many people scheduled tonight, I guess things weren't as busy as they thought it would be." Seth replied.

"Yeah I think everyone who would have been out tonight were out last night." Alex added.

"I see, last night was a pretty good night. I think we all had a good time." Marissa replied, "Right Sum?"

"Yeah it was a good night." Summer replied and smiled looking at Zack.

Zack smiled back and wrapped his arm around the back of her neck. When Seth noticed, he did the same with Alex.

Ryan and Marissa were sitting back watching everything.

Zack started whispering in Summers ear making Summer laugh. Seth wanted to up do Zack so he started kissing Alex's neck while quietly making her laugh.

Marissa watched a little longer at the two couples and go up, "YOu know what, I can't take any more of this. Ryan I'm going to bed."

Marissa left the room, her exit caused the two couples to stop what they were doing. Ryan sat awkwardly among them not knowing what to say.

"Actually I think we should go, come on Zack." Summer said and stood up, "Thanks Chino for letting us come over."

Summer and Zack quickly disappeared through the door leaving Ryan, Alex and Seth alone.

"So I'm going up to bed." Ryan said standing up, "Sorry Seth, I didn't know they'd be here when you got home."

"Yeah." Seth said.

It was obvious Seth didn't like seeing Summer with someone else and Ryan felt bad but there wasn't anything he could do right then to fix the situation.

"So..uh...good night." Ryan said and headed up to his room.

"So maybe I should go home?" Alex suggested.

"You don't have to, we could..um..watch that movie RYan had." Seth replied.

Alex debated it but agreed.

Ryan headed upstairs, he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth before he went into the bedroom. When he finally made it into the room, Marissa was back on to him witht he tv on. Ryan assumed she was asleep so he removed his clothes leaving his boxers on and crawled into bed beside her. Ryan leaned over and kissed the side of her head before laying his head down on the pillow.

Marissa rolled over and looked at him, "Hey."

"Hey I thought you were asleep." Ryan whispered.

"No, I was waiting for you to come to bed. I thought you'd be longer though." Marissa replied.

"No, I couldn't take much more either." Ryan laughed.

"So the four of them are still downstairs?" Marissa asked.

"No, Summer and Zack left just after you came up here. I think Seth's made a me though." Ryan replied cuddling up to her.

"Really? I'll tell him it was my idea, I don't want him to be made at you because of Summer." Marissa said sincerely.

"Don't worry about it, you know what Seth's like." Ryan replied.

"So..." Marissa said and leaned in to kiss him.

"So..." Ryan replied smiling at her.

"The Cohen's aren't home." Marissa stated.

Ryan laughed, "Nope they are not."

"We don't have to worry about getting in trouble." Marissa said and kissed him again.

Ryan pulled Marissa ontop of him and kissed her but they were interrupted by Seth barging in on them.

"Oh sorry, I uh...should go." Seth said but stood where he was and didn't move.

Marissa got off of Ryan and Ryan looked over at Seth, "What is it?"

"Alex and I are ordering some food. We thought you two might be hungry." Seth said, "Again....sorry."

"Actually Ryan, I'm actually a little hungry." Marissa said.

Ryan nodded, "We'll be right down."

Seth finally left the room and Ryan looked over at Marissa and sighed.

"Don't worry Ryan." Marissa said, "We have all night!"

Marissa smiled and got out of bed, throwing the sweater she had on earlier back on.

Marissa went downstairs and Ryan followed not long after.

"So what do you guys want to order, we were thinking Chineese." Alex said.

"What ever, I pretty much like everything and so does Ryan." Marissa replied.

Alex got up and Marissa noticed the tattoos she had. One on her arm, on on the back of her shoulder and she could slightly see the one on her hip by the way she passed Marissa.

"Wow Seth, she's like covered in tatoo's." Marissa said.

"Yeah she's into that stuff. She has a tongue ring and she's mentioned she has them in other places as well." Seth replied.

"Wow, she's like the complete opposite of Summer." Marissa stated not looking for a response.

Alex returned, "Well the ordering is done. It'll be here in about 30 minutes."

"So Alex, do you like Newport?" Ryan asked.

"I uh actually don't live in Newport. I'm renting an apartment just outside of Newport." Alex said.

"Oh, you're renting an apartment?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah I moved out of my parents house, couldn't handle them any longer. You guess should come over some time, we'll all hang out and party, I always have beer in the fridge." Alex suggested.

Ryan and Marissa looked at eachother, "Ahh, yeah maybe."

"So I'm trying to talk Seth into coming to this club with me next weekend, it's in Corona and it's awesome." Alex stated.

"Really, I don't think that's his thing." Ryan said.

"What do you mean, I've partied with the other crowd before." Seth defended/

Marissa and Ryan looked at him, "Sure you have."

"Ok maybe not but I'd like to try." Seth said.

"You two should come, maybe Summer and Zach too." Alex suggested.

"Actually I don't think it's Summer or Zach's scene." Marissa replied.

"Well that's ok, probably better. You guys should come though." Alex said.

"We'll see." Ryan replied.

The food came and everyone enjoyed it. Ryan and Marissa were being amused by how Seth was acting. He was trying to be somebody else, somebody he thought Alex would like him to be.

"So Seth did you tell Alex about your comic books, maybe you should give her one of your starter kits?" Ryan said.

Alex looked over at Seth confused, "You like comic books?"

Seth could tell by the tone in her voice that is was obviously something that she didn't like, "Uh, I was into them. You know the things you do when you're young, like playing magic gatherings."

Alex nodded, "Yeah."

Ryan looked over at Seth and chuckled, "Right."

"Well its getting late and I have to open tomorrow so I should be going, hopefully I see you two at the club next weekend." Alex said and looked over at Seth hoping he would walk her out.

"I'll walk you out." Seth said and followed Alex outside.

"Can you believe him, what's he trying to pull. If she doesn't like him for who he is why go for her." Marissa said looking up at Ryan.

"Yeah, he's claiming he doesn't read comic books or play magic gatherings. He's claiming he's not Seth Cohen." Ryan laughed.

Seth returned back inside and sat down with Marissa and Ryan.

"So is this Seth Cohen returning or the same person who just left?" Marissa asked.

Seth looked at her confused, "What?"

"Come on man, pretending you're not into comic books?" Ryan said.

"Look this is a hard core chick Ryan, if she knows I like comics books she won't be interested in me." Seth replied.

"How do you know unless you tell her." Ryan stated.


	41. Chapter 41

"Yeah right, a girl like that isn't going to like the real Seth Cohen." Seth replied.

"And Summer wouldn't like Seth Cohen either right?" Ryan added.

That stumped Seth, "I'm going to bed, see you two in the morning."

Ryan stood up and started cleaning up the mess left over from the take out.

"Hey Ryan." Marissa said helping him.

"Yeah?" Ryan asked turning towards Marissa.

"Let's do this in the morning." Marissa smiled.

"We're almost finished, if we do it now we can stay in bed longer!" Ryan insisted.

Marissa nodded and went back for more stuff to bring into the kitchen.

After about 10 minutes they were finished.

"Ready to go back upstairs?" Ryan asked making his way towards Marissa who was leaning against the island.

"Whenever you are." Marissa replied as Ryan pressed up against her opening his mouth slightly as he moved in to kiss her. He let his tongue press up against hers as their bodies pressed against eachother.

Ryan pulled her body up on to the island still kissing her. Marissa wrapped her legs around his body pulling him tightly against her.

Marissa ran her hands down his back and started pulling his shirt up over his body and up over his head. Once the shirt was off she started kissing his shoulders.

"Maybe we should go upstairs." Ryan moaned, "Before things get too heated up down here."

Marissa heard him but didn't stop, she took his hands and put them on her hips. Ryan pulled her into him and lifted her off the counter. She kissed him and he started stumbling towards the stairs. Slowly they made their way upstairs, kissing the entire way and stumbling onto the bed. Ryan immediately pulled her shirt off, exploring her body likes it was completely new to him. Marissa sat up and looked down at him on the bed.

"I'm tired, I think we should sleep now." Marissa said sounding completely serious.

Ryan looked up at her confused, "What? You're not serious?"

Marissa didn't saw anything she slowly moved her hands down low, reaching his belt buckle, "If I was, how woudl you feel about it?"

"Honestly?" Ryan smiled.

Marissa nodded.

"Frustrated!" Ryan informed.

"Don't worry, I want it as much as you!" Marissa smiled and unbuckled his belt and pulled his pants off.

Ryan and Marissa got up around 9:30 and went down stairs to grab some coffee.

"The love birds are up, the way things sounded last night I thought you'd be in bed all day." Seth stated.

Marissa and Ryan looked at eachother, "What?"

"Yeah you two kept me up last night, you two could have spent the night in the pool house if you were going to be doing the deed for hours." Seth said sipping his juice, "I was debating to go out there."

"Sure Seth, are you working today?" Ryan asked.

"No, tomorrow." Seth replied, "Mom and dad called, they'll be home after dinner some time."

"Are you seeing Alex today?" Ryan asked.

"No, I have a test on Monday that I need to study for." Seth replied.

"Oh, hey you want something to eat Cooper?" Ryan asked.

"No, actually I think I'm gonna go. I have lots of homework too that I should actually start doing." Marissa replied.

"Oh, ok." Ryan replied, "Want me to walk you out?"

"No its ok, you stay here. I'll call you later?" Marissa replied and gave him a kiss. A really good good-bye kiss.

When they finally pulled away from eachother Ryan smiled at her and she walked away.

The next few weeks went by, Summer and Zach got closer each day; Seth and Alex continued seeing eachother, although Seth wasn't feeling the way he wanted to about Alex.

"Hey Ryan can we talk?" Seth asked knocking slightly on Ryan's bedroom door.

"Sure, what's up?" Ryan asked.

"Women." Seth said.

"Really, how are you and Alex doing?" Ryan asked.

"Well I don't know, I kind of don't know how I feel about her. I'm actually sick of pretending to be someone else." Seth said.

"So you admit that you're pretending with her?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, happy?" SEth asked.

"Yes, now you know you should do that?" Ryan replied.

"OK man you're right, what should I do. I work with her and I want to break up." Seth said.

"Why don't you just let her know the real you?" Ryan asked.

"Because honestly..." Seth started, "I can't get Summer off of my mind. I miss her."

Ryan looked up surprised, "You know she's with Zack still?"

"Yeah but maybe she's feeling the same way as I am, maybe you wants me back as much as I want her back." Seth replied.

Ryan wasn't so sure Marissa had told him lately how much Summer liked Zack, "Well do what you got to do."

"But what about work, what if Alex fires me." Seth said.

"Well it's not like you need the job, don't worry about it." Ryan replied.

"When do you think I should tell Summer, immediately, tonight tomorrow? How should I tell her? Over the phone? Email? A letter?" Seth asked.

"Look man I don't know, but I would say in person." Ryan suggested.

"Thanks." Seth said, "So how are you and Marissa?"

"Good, why do you ask?" Ryan asked.

"I heard she's going away." Seth said.

"Yeah just for a week." Ryan replied, "She going to Yale for somesort of convention or something, she has the top grades in our class. Great for to put on her college applications."

"Aren't you worried?" Seth asked.

"No, why would I be?" Ryan asked.

"Because she'll be staying with all these other guys for a week, smart rich guys mostly." Seth said.

"Seth!" Ryan said.

"Ok man, just trying to help out." Seth said.

"I don't need any help." Ryan protested.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Seth said and left the room.

He came back, "Ready for school?"

"I'll be right down." Ryan replied and went downstairs not long after.

Ryan and Seth arrived at school, seeing Summer and Zach sitting together on a bench cuddling.

"Wow, look at that, she's forgotten about me already." Seth said elbowing Ryan to look at Summer.

"It was you who broke up with her remember." Ryan reminded.

"Yeah like a week ago." Seth said.

Ryan looked at his.

"Ok longer than a week but she got with him like a week after." Seth replied.

"And you got with Alex." Ryan informed.

Seth nodded, "I got to get to class, Paige is supposed to meet me soon."

"Paige?" Ryan asked.

"My partner, we're writing a paper together....remember?" Seth responded.

"Right." Ryan said and walked towards his locked.

Marissa came up behind him, "Hey!" She said kissing him.

"Hey!" Ryan smiled and continued putting his books in his bag.

"You ok?" Marissa asked leaning up against the locker next to his.

"Yeah." Ryan replied, "Just Seth, you know the way he is."

"Yeah!" Marissa laughed, "So I was hoping we could hang out after school, you up to it?"

"Sure." Ryan replied, "After supper?"

"Sounds good." Marissa smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

Ryan kissed her quickly, "I have to get to class."

Marissa nodded and Ryan left.

Marissa stood at his locker and watched him leaving wondering why he was so distant with her. She decided not to let it worry her till she met with him later that night.

Summer came up beside her, "Hey Coop!"

"Hey Sum, how's it going?" Marissa asked.

"Great, you?" Summer asked.

"I thought everything was fine, but Ryan's acting really weird." Marissa confessed.

"Don't worry Coop, he's like crazy about you." Summer stated.

"Yeah but that's what I thought about you and Seth too." Marissa stated.

Summer nodded, "Things change but I know when you lost your memory just a few weeks ago and broke up with Ryan, he was miserable."

"Yeah so how goes it with Zach?" Marissa asked.

"Great, we actually went out with Lori and her friend this weekend. We thought about calling you and Ryan but decided since it was Lori it wouldn't be the best idea." Summer said.

"Yeah thanks." Marissa smiled and they started walking.

"See you at lunch?" Summer asked about to turn down the hall towards her class.

"Lunch!" Marissa agreed and left for hers.

Ryan met Seth after school and headed for home.

"So Ryan I bet you'll never guess what I did today." Seth asked.

"Uh?" Ryan replied, "Talk to Summer?"

"Nope, I asked Paige out." Seth replied.

"What? Why I thought you wanted Summer back." Ryan replied.

"I just figured I lost my chance with Summer since she seems so happy with what's his face." Seth said.

"So does Alex know that you are going to be seeing other people?" Ryan asked.

"Nope!" Seth replied.

"Don't you think you should tell her?" Ryan asked.

"Why?" Seth asked.

"Remember last time you were playing two girls, didn't go so well did it?" Ryan asked.

"Well they were sort of friends, acqaitances. Alex and Paige know nothing about eachother, they'll never know." Seth convinced himself.

"Right." Ryan replied.

Ryan started his homework next to Seth at the kitchen table. Sandy and Kirsten both called to let them know they wouldn't be home until late. Instead of eating the boys worked right through supper, it took them longer than expected because Seth just would not stop talking about Summer and Zach.

Marissa arrived at the Cohen's around 7 and found the boys at the table discussing Summer.

"So Seth," Marissa started, "You want Summer back now?"

The boys looked up not realizing that Marissa had gotten there, Ryan looked over at Seth and smiled.

"No, what are you talking about Marissa?" Seth asked, "You need your ears checked out or something."

"Sure Seth." Marissa said.

Ryan started closing his books to put them away.

Marissa stood next to Ryan and looked down at him, "Do you want to go upstairs and talk?"

Ryan nodded and stood up beside her.

"Right talk sure!" Seth said as they left the kitchen and made their way to Ryan's room.

Ryan threw his bag in the corner and sat down on the bed and pulled Marissa into him.

She looked up at him surprised, "I thought you were mad at me or something."

Ryan looked shocked, "Why? Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because today you didn't seem, you just seemed distant." Marissa replied.

Ryan pulled her in tighter, "Sorry it was just something Seth said to me."

"What did he say to you to make you like that?" Marissa asked looking up at him.

Ryan laughed nervously, "He uh mentioned you going away staying with all these guys unsupervised, it just got my mind wondering."

Marissa smiled at him, "Are you scared Ryan?"

"No of course not, why would I be?" Ryan replied.

"Because I'll be alone with all these strange guys, no one to rat on me, no one will ever know what I'll be doing." Marissa replied.

"Making me feel a whole lot better." Ryan replied.

"Ryan, you know I'd never do anything like that." Marissa said.

"I know, I just don't trust other guys." Ryan confessed, "Especially when my girlfriend looks like you."

Marissa smiled, "Thanks but you don't have to worry, why would I want anyone else when I have you."


	42. Chapter 42

"Right." Ryan replied.

"Really!" Marissa smiled and kissed him, "Why would you think that."

"Honestly?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah of course." Marissa replied.

"Because I'm like this low class guy who came from nowhere, not sure of where I'm going." Ryan said softly.

Marissa looked up at him with sad eyes, "Ryan!"

Ryan looked at her.

"You came from somewhere, somewhere that made you the person you are now, the person I'm crazy in love with. What do you mean you're going nowhere, you're one of the smartest people I know." Marissa said.

Ryan looked at her, "So I have nothing to worry about?"

Marissa gave him a gentle kiss, "Nothing at all."

They continued kissing a little longer.

"So did you eat?" Ryan asked.

"I had a snack after school, why did you eat?" Marissa asked.

"No, Seth and I started homework after we got home and with all his gabbing about Summer we..." Ryan started but stopped himself.

"Why would Seth be talking about Summer?" Marissa asked.

"Uh did I say Summer? I meant Alex." Ryan lied.

"Ryan!" Marissa demanded.

"Ok Seth wants Summer back but he thinks he can't have her back so he asked out Paige." Ryan confessed.

"What!" Marissa replied, "He asked out Paige, Summer will have a fit if she hears that."

"Yeah, but don't say anything." Ryan asked.

"I won't, but I wonder if I Summer wants Seth back." Marissa thought.

"You better not tell her about Seth!" Ryan said.

"I swear Ryan." Marissa promised with a kiss, "Aren't you hungry?"

"Starving, you want to go down to the crabshack?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, comeone lets go!" Marissa replied.

Marissa and Ryan were in Marissa's bedroom while she packed to leave for Yale the next day.

"You're packing that?" Ryan asked watching her fold a shirt.

Marissa looked up, "Why you don't think I should?"

"Well why would you need to wear it?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know maybe a bunch of us will go out, I should be prepared right?" Marissa answered looking at the shirt, it was one of her going out shirts, she loved it.

"But that shirt?" Ryan asked.

"Oh I know what's going on here, you want me to be covered up the entire time, are you affraid another guy might look at me?" Marissa smiled and made her way over to him.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in, "I'm just looking out for you."

"Right!" Marissa laughed, "I think I should bring a few shirts like that!"

"Nah, I don't think so." He smiled and kissed her just as Summer came storming through the door.

"Coop! Coooop!" Summer yelled.

Marissa pulled away, "Hey Sum, what's up?"

"You two should tell me." Summer said flopping down on Marissa's chair.

"What are you talking about Summer?" Ryan asked.

"Cohen!" Summer replied, "Paige!"

"Oh." Marissa replied and continued to pack.

"So aren't you two going to say anything?" Summer demanded.

"What? It sounds like you already know they were going out." Marissa replied.

"You should have told me. What the hell is he doing with that skank anyway?" Summer said.

"I didn't think it would matter, you're happy with Zach right?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah I am but it still matters. He knows how much I don't like her, he's just doing this to get back at me." Summer replied.

"Get back at you for what?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know but I'm sure its for something, maybe because I am with Zach. Besides I thought he was with that other chick, the one with tattoos and earrings...what's her face." Summer said.

"Alex?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah her." Summer replied.

"So how did you find out?" Marissa questioned.

"Zach and I went for dinner before going to the movies and they were at the restaurant laughing and giggling, it made me sick." Summer said.

"Sounds like someone is jealous." Marissa joked.

"What! OF course not....Zach said the same thing before he dropped me off, we ended up having a fight about it." Summer said.

"Did you break up?" Ryan asked.

"No, he said I needed to make sure I wanted to be with him before I hurt him, I told him I wanted to be with him. Besides Cohen's having fun playing with his girlfriends." Summer said.

"Do you want to be with Seth?" Marissa asked.

"No Coop, I just told you I wanted to be with Zach. I still love Cohen but I think its best for us to be apart. Maybe we'll get back together someday, just not now." Summer replied.

"Right." Marissa said.

Ryan had taken the cloths he didn't want Marissa to bring with her out of her suitcase and filled it with his idea of acceptable clothes, Marissa hadn't noticed because she was busy talking to Summer.

"So Coop you're leaving tomorrow? When will you be home?" Summer asked.

"Sunday, it should be interesting." Marissa replied and zipped her suitcase up.

"Chino you don't mind letting her go all alone?" Summer asked.

"No, I trust her." Ryan replied.

"Coop aren't you affraid Chino will go off and play while you're away?" Summer asked.

"Hey I didn't think of that." She smiled and looked over at Ryan, "You were affraid of leaving me alone with a bunch of guys, I'm leaving you alone with a bunch of girls."

"Its different, I'm staying home. I'm not going to be living with a bunch of strange woman." Ryan replied.

"Yeah but Seth's going to a party on Friday night, are you going?" Marissa asked.

"I don't know, why?" Ryan asked.

"Because you'll be around a bunch of drunk Newport girls and you know what drunk Newport girls are like." Marissa replied.

"I'll be at that party Coop, I'll watch him for you." Summer replied smiling at Chino.

"Why don't you just stay home?" Ryan asked.

Marissa smiled, "I'll be home in like a week!"

"Ok Coop have fun, I'll see you next week and I'll be watching you Chino!" Summer informed and gave Marissa a hug before she left.

"Maybe I should get going too, it's kind of late and I still have a bit of homework left." Ryan replied.

Marissa looked up at him with sad eyes, "You're leaving already?"

"Yeah you don't mind do you?" Ryan asked.

"Well I guess not, I was hoping to have so alone time with you since I won't be seeing you for a week." Marissa said.

Ryan smiled and stood up next to her and wrapped his arms around her, "I'm going to miss you!"

Marissa snuggled into him, "I actually feel like I'm going to cry."

Ryan laughed, "Why?"

"Because last time we left eachother for longer than like a day you left for Chino, I didn't think I was ever going to see you again." Marissa confessed.

"You're only going for a week, I'll come by right when you get home ok." Ryan asked.

"K, I'm going to miss you too." Marissa said and pressed her lips against his.

Their kiss lasted a long time, "I better go before I won't be able too." Ryan said and kissed her quickly before pulling away from her.

"Have a good time ok?" Ryan said leaving.

"You too, just not too much of a good time." Marissa teased.

The next day Seth emerged into Ryan's room with a huge grin on his face.

"Hey." Ryan said noticing him in the room.

"Hey to you too." Seth replied sitting down in the chair to wait for Ryan.

"So how was the date?" Ryan asked.

"Great, Paige is a great girl." Seth replied.

"So you two ran into Summer last night did you?" Ryan asked with a grin.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Seth asked.

"She dropped by Marissa's last night, she was a little annoyed that you were out with Paige." Ryan replied.

"Really?" Seth asked.

"Yeah but I didn't tell you, although she's pretty happy with Zach right now." Ryan confessed.

"Yeah." Seth replied and looked down.

"So the date was good?" Ryan asked.

"We hit it off, she found me funny and she wasn't half bad herself." Seth smiled, "She likes comic books too."

"That's great man." Ryan replied.

"So Marissa's gone now right?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, she left this morning." Ryan replied.

"Did you tell her you were going out with me this weekend? Because I'm not taking no for an answer." Seth demanded.

"I didn't say I was going for sure, she knows about it though." Ryan replied, "She doesn't mind anyway."

"Right just like you don't mind that she's staying with a bunch of guys." Seth replied.

Ryan looked up and gave him his signature look and threw his back on his back, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, so Paige will probably sit with us at lunch, you can get to know her a little better." Seth stated.

"Great." Ryan replied and they headed out the door.

At lunch Ryan made his way over to their normal table finding Seth, Paige and another girl.

"Must be Paige's friend." Ryan thought to himself and approached the table.

"Hey man!" Seth said and moved over to let Ryan sit next to him, "So Ryan this is Paige and her friend Melanie."

"Hey." Ryan smiled and nodded at the girls.

"So Ryan we were just talking about the party Friday night, you have to go." Seth said.

"I told you I'd think about it." Ryan said.

"Come one man what else are you going to do?" Seth asked.

Ryan shrugged, "Relax?"

"You can relax on Saturday night." Seth said.

"We'll see." Ryan replied taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Comeon Ryan it'll be fun, Seth probably won't go if you don't go." Paige said.

Ryan looked up surprised and over to Seth who smiled while putting his arm around her, "That's my girl!"

"Maybe, I'm not guaranteing anything." Ryan replied.

"That's better than nothing." Seth said, "So Melanie are you going?"

"I was thinking about it, if I go do you guys mind if I tag along with you?" Melanie asked.

"The more the better!" Seth replied.

"Great!" Melanie replied, "Well I gotta jet, call me later Paige."

"I thought you said that Ryan has a girlfriend." Paige asked Seth.

"He does." Seth replied.

"Oh will she be coming too?" Paige asked, "Her name is Marissa Cooper right?"

"She's uh gone away for the week." Ryan replied not sure why she asked.

"Oh really a week, when will she be back?" Paige asked.

"Sunday." Ryan informed.

"Oh." Paige said, "She's the social chair here right? Very pretty girl, smart?"

Ryan looked at her a little confused and nodded.

"So where is she gone? Family vacation?" Paige asked.

"No, umm, she went to Yale for a conference or something like that." Ryan replied, "So Seth I got to go, talk to you after school. Nice to meet you Paige."

Ryan walked off thinking Paige was a little bit too interested about his and Marissa relationship. As he was walking into the school Summer came up to him.

"Hey Chino!" Summer said.

"Hey." Ryan replied stopping to talk.

"So I see you were sitting with Seth and his new girlfriend." Summer said.

"I thought you didn't care." Ryan replied.

"No I don't, so who was the friend?" Summer asked.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"The girl that was with them?" Summer asked.

"I guess she was Paige's friend, Melanie I think. Why?" Ryan asked.

"Just curious. So are you going to the party Friday night, you're more than welcome to come with Zach and me." Summer suggested.

"Yeah uh, Seth kind of wants me to go with them." Ryan said.

"Oh, with Paige, Melanie and Seth?" Summer asked.

"Ok what's going on Summer?" Ryan asked.

"NOthing, why?" Summer snapped.

"You don't have to try to babysit me while Marissa's away." Ryan laughed.

"What? I'm not trying to babysit you." Summer replied.

"Normally you wouldn't be interested in me tagging along with you and your boyfriend if Marissa wasn't with me, not even when you were dating Seth." Ryan smiled.

"Ok, I just don't want to see Coop hurt." Summer confessed.

Ryan laughed, "I'm not going to hurt Marissa."

"Why are you going to a party with Seth and his girlfriend and her best friend, it sounds like a date to me." Summer defended.

"Summer believe me, nothing is going on and nothing is going to go on." Ryan replied, "I'm not like that ok."

"All men are like that." Summer stated.

Ryan looked at her and nodded, "You'll see." And he walked away.


	43. Chapter 43

After school Ryan met Seth outside at the car.

"So I got to drop you off at home, I have to get to work." Seth said.

"Really, are you going to tell Alex about Paige?" Ryan asked interested.

"No, why should I?" Seth asked.

"Does Alex know about this party Friday night?" Ryan asked.

"No." Seth said simply.

"What if she finds out?" Ryan asked.

"She won't, how will she?" Seth asked.

"I don't know, she won't I guess." Ryan smiled.

"So I saw you talking to Summer when you left lunch time." Seth said.

"Yeah she asked me to go to the party with her on Friday night." Ryan replied.

"Isn't Zachery going?" Seth asked.

"Yah, I think she's affraid that I'm going to cheat on Marissa or something." Ryan laughed.

"That's Summer for you." Seth laughed, "So you better be coming with me and the girls though."

"Yeah I guess, so Paige is..um...full of questions." Ryan stated.

Seth laughed, "I think her friend was maybe is interested in you."

"I've never even seen her around school before." Ryan stated.

"She's a little shy but I did let Paige know you and Marissa are together." Seth said.

"Thanks." Ryan replied, "I don't need any kind of drama while Marissa's gone."

Friday night came along and Ryan, Seth, Melanie and Paige were at the Cohen's house. Seth had asked Paige over after school and Paige asked if Melanie could join them, Seth agreed.

"So are we going out for supper?" Paige asked Seth, they were cuddled together on the couch. Melanie was sitting in the seat across from them, Ryan sat on the floor across from everyone else.

"Yeah I'm starving you want to go to the Crab Shack?" Seth asked.

"Sounds great." Paige replied.

"You hungry Melanie? How does the Crab Shack sound?" Seth asked.

"Great." She smiled.

"Hey man you going to join us?" Seth asked turning his attention to Ryan.

"Uh, actually I think I'm going to stay here. Marissa's supposed to call early tonight so I should wait. You guys go on." Ryan replied.

"You sure, do you want us to bring you back something?" Seth asked.

"Nah I'm fine, I'll grab something here if I get hungry." Ryan replied and walked out of the room and headed to his bedroom.

"So I guess its just the three of us." Seth smiled and stood up.

"Oh my brother is getting us a bottle for the party, do you want him to pick you and Ryan up something?" Paige asked.

"Yeah cool, I don't know about Ryan though. I'll go up and ask him." Seth said.

"Mel can." Paige offered grabbing Seth and pulling him into her.

Seth nodded, "Third door on the left." Seth mumbled before bringing his lips into Paiges.

Melanie headed upstairs and found Ryan's bedroom, she lightly tapped on the door.

"Its open." Ryan called out.

Melanie opened the door and walked in and smiled.

"Hey?" Ryan said surprised to see her in his room, wondering what she was doing.

"Seth and Paige wanted a moment alone and asked me to come up here and ask you something." Melanie started.

Ryan waited.

"Paige's brother is picking some drinks up for us tonight, do you want him to pick something up for you too?" Melanie asked.

"Well if you all are drinking maybe I should probably not, we'll need someone to drive us home right?" Ryan replied.

"Right, responsible. Good idea." Melanie said, "So do you want someone else to stay sobber with you, I know how annoying it is to be driving around a car full of drunks."

Ryan laughed, "No I'll be ok."

"Ok, so you are going with us for sure tonight then?" Melanie asked.

"Yeah looks that way." Ryan replied just as his phone started to ring, "Excuse me that's probably my girlfriend calling."

Melanie nodded and left the room shutting the door behind her.

"HellO?" Ryan answered.

"Hey!" Marissa said.

"Hi hows the conference going?" Ryan asked.

"Great we're done everything now, we're all going out tonight and I went looking for something cool to wear." Marissa started.

"Really." Ryan replied remembering she didn't have much stuff to wear out.

"Yeah and I can't find anything in my suitcase, I could have swore that I packed a few things to wear out." Marissa stated.

"Really? I wonder what happened." Ryan said trying to play dumb.

"Yeah I was kind of thinking maybe you would know what happened to my clothes." Marissa asked.

"Me? Nope, don't know what you're talking about." Ryan lied.

"Really!" Marissa replied.

"Ok maybe they're in your room, under your bed." Ryan laughed.

Marissa smiled, "Thought you would know something about the clothes disappearing."

"You mad?" Ryan asked.

"No, actually I kind of laughed about it for a few minutes with my roommate." Marissa replied, "But my roommate did offer to loan me something to wear so your plan didn't work mister."

"Well I tried." Ryan replied realizing how much he missed her.

"So you going to that party tonight?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah, I'm going with Seth and Paige and Paige's friend Melanie." Ryan replied.

"Melanie?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah, I never saw her around school until Seth introduced me to her and Paige earlier this week." Ryan replied, "Honestly they both are a little weird."

Marissa laughed, "Well Seth is a little weird too."

"Yeah, Summer gave me a lecture this week too about the party. She asked me to go with her and Zach and when I told her that I was going with Seth she warned me not to hurt you." Ryan informed.

"Really?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah she was worried about you, I called her my babysitter." Ryan replied.

"She's just trying to be a friend." Marissa replied, "So is Melanie pretty?"

"Uh I guess she's not bad looking but I'm not interested, believe me." Ryan replied.

"Good, so do you miss me?" Marissa asked, "Cause I've been missing you a lot today."

"Actually I am, I was just thinking about that." Ryan confessed, "I can't wait to see you on Sunday."

"You going to come over to my place? My dad is going to be with Hailey until Monday morning." Marissa asked.

"Yeah definitely." Ryan answered, "Are you having fun at Yale though, meeting new people?"

"Oh the people are so much fun, the school's beautiful and I've learned so much. I took so many pictures that I'll show you when I get home." Marissa said.

"Good then I can see what my competition was while you were away." Ryan joked.

"Don't worry, no competition here." Marissa informed, "Well I got to get going, it's pretty late here. I'll call you the minute I get home on Sunday ok?"

"Have fun tonight, love you." Ryan stated.

"Love you to Ryan." Marissa stated and hung the phone up.

Ryan got into the shower and got ready to go out. It was around 8 when Seth returned home. He still had to get a shower before leaving for the party.

Seth was ready at around 8:30, they had to wait until Paige called to let them know the girls were ready.

They arrived at the party around 10, there wasn't many people there. Summer and Zach arrived around the same time.

"Chino!" Summer called out.

Ryan looked back and smiled in relief that he could get away from Paige and Melanie for a little while.

"I'll be right back." Ryan said and walked over to Summer and Zach.

"Did Coop call you tonight, she called me but I wasn't home." Summer said.

"Yeah she did earlier, she's having fun they're going out tonight." Ryan replied.

"Did you tell her you were coming to the party with Melanie." Summer asked.

"Summer I'm not here with Melanie, I came with Seth and he took Paige and Melanie." Ryan replied.

"I hope so." Summer said.

"Honestly Summer." Ryan replied annoyed.

"Actually I had something else to ask you, a favour really." Summer said.

"You blame me for cheating on your best friend and then you ask for a favour?" Ryan asked not so surprised.

"Yeah." Summer said.

"What is it?" Ryan asked.

"Are you drinking tonight?" Summer asked.

"No, why?" Ryan replied.

"Zach and I are and we kind of need a ride home. Do you mind?" Summer asked.

"You know I came here with Seth and Paige right?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah but hopefully by the end of the night no one will even realize who we're driving home with, please CHino!!!" Summer begged.

"Fine." Ryan answered.

"Thanks!" Summer said cheerfully and ran to find Zach.

Ryan returned to Seth who had already started drinking. Ryan sighed and sat down next to him. Seth and the girls were talking and Ryan sat there trying to block out the conversation about comic books or something along those lines.

He started looking around the room at everyone he then noticed Summer next to Zach looking almost as bored as he was, she had glanced over in their direction a few times which got Ryan's brain running.

Ryan knew Seth missed Summer and wanted her back; he also could tell by the way Summer had been looking over at them all night that she still missed Seth. Ryan tried to come up with a way to get them back together, he wished Marissa was there to help him out.

Melanie and Paige got up to use the bathroom, leaving RYan and Seth alone.

"Ryan man, you're awfully quiet tonight." Seth stated.

"And you're extra loud tonight which makes up for it." Ryan joked.

Seth laughed, "So man you think I can get Paige to come with me tonight?" Seth asked.

"I don't know but I'm sure your parents will have a problem with that." Ryan replied.

"Yeah, not a good idea...." Seth agreed, "But do you think I could have though?"

"Sure......yeah man, no problem." Ryan replied as the girls returned.

Paige sat next to Seth and Melanie pushed herself next to Ryan, "Having fun Atwood?"

Ryan looked at her and nodded.

"You know we haven't really had much time to talk, get to know eachother." Melanie stated.

"No I guess not." Ryan replied.

"You should have come to dinner with us, Paige and Seth talked the entire time. I needed someone to talk to." Melanie said.

"Yeah I guess." Ryan replied.

"So do you like workout? You look like your boyd is strong." Melanie asked brushing her hand over his chest.

"No I don't." Ryan replied uncomfortable and adjusted himself away from her.

Seth and Paige got up to dance and Melanie noticed.

"Comeon Atwood lets dance." Melanie smiled pulling on his hand.

"Um I don't dance." Ryan informed.

"COme on, we're at a party, your supposed to be having fun." She protested pulling him a little more.

Ryan pulled his hand back, "Not tonight."

"Ok lets talk. So you're like from Chino right, do you go back often?" She asked.

"Not really." Ryan answered.

"I went to a party there once, it was crazy. I loved it, the guys are totally sexy." She smiled at him.

Ryan sighed and thought how 'fun' the night was going to be.

"So Paige is like head over heels for Seth, well that is what she says." Melanie said.

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked.

"Well its sort of funny that she's dating Summers ex, she doesn't even like comic books." Melanie informed.

"So you think she's using Seth?" Ryan asked.

"I think, but she does think he's cute. I think she just wants to get Summer back." Melanie said, "But I know you won't say anything right?"

Ryan gave her a small half smile until he felt her foot brush up against his leg, not once but a few times. He immediately moved it away.

"Uh, I thought you knew I have a girlfriend." Ryan asked.

"Yeah one thats not here right now." She smiled.

"She might not be here but taht doesn't mean I'm going to do something to hurt her." Ryan replied.

She smiled and moved her mouth close to his ear, "What if I can promise she will never know."

Ryan pushed her away, "I'll know."

"You don't have to worry, it'll be fun. It'll be sexy trying to hide it." Melanie whispered.

"I don't think it would be." Ryan replied.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Cause I'm not interested in you." Ryan said and got up and left her alone.

Melanie ended up leaving the party and around 2:30 Seth was ready to leave. Ryan went to get Summer who was sitting next to Zach.

"You ready to leave?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, Zach comeon." Summer said.

"10 more minutes Roberts, hold on." Zach said barely looking at her.

"Our ride is like leaving, now." Summer pleaded.

"Well I'm not ready yet." Zach replied.

"Fine I'm leaving!" Summer said and got up.

Ryan smiled, "now he just had to get rid of Paige," he thought to himself but was interrupted when Summer started to fall.

"Summer!" he said and caught her.

Zach looked over, "She's had a little bit too much to drink." Zach laughed.

"Yeah, really?" Ryan snapped.

"Excuse me?" Zach stood up.

"Your girlfriend is drunk and wants to leave and you don't care and just laugh at it?" Ryan replied angry.

"Are you saying I don't care, who the hell are you?" Zach responded.

"I'm being a friend, more than what you're being right now. You don't deserve her man." Ryan said.

Zach raised his fist and knocked Ryan in the face. Ryan's temper started to rise and he wacked Zach back and knocked him on the floor.

"Come on Summer." Ryan said helping Summer up. She was too drunk to realize what had just happened and left with Ryan.

Ryan helped her to the car where Paige and Seth were waiting for Ryan to open the doors.

"Summer?" seth said when he realized who Ryan was with, "Is she ok?"

"She's had a bit to much to drink and her boyfriend is an idiot." Ryan replied.

Seth looked up at Ryan, "Did you get into a fight?"

"Zach punched me so I punched him back." Ryan said passing drunk Summer over to Seth.

Seth sat in the back with Summer, Paige was quiet the whole ride home. Ryan dropped her off first.

"Maybe we should take her back to our house." Seth suggested.

"Yeah she shouldn't really be by herself right now." Ryan agreed, "So she's either going to hate me tomorrow or be really happy with me."

"Yeah." Seth laughed, "So how did you and Zach start fighting?"

"I said he didn't care about her and told him he didn't deserve her." Ryan replied.

"Wow!" Seth said surprised, "so what happened to Melanie?"

"I told her I wasn't interested." Ryan replied, "She's really strange."

Seth nodded and looked down at Summer who was laying across his lap. He brushed the hair from her face and she began to stir.

"I think I'm going to be sick." She moaned.

Ryan immediately pulled off to the side of the road. Seth helped her out of the car and stood with her as she got sick.

10 minutes later they pulled into the driveway.

"I'm going to stay in the poolhouse with her, then if she gets sick again she won't wake the parents up." Seth informed.

Ryan nodded and went into the house and grabbed ice for his haw and went to bed. His phone went off a couple hours later, he reached over and answered it.

"Hello?" He moaned.

"Hey!" marissa said cheerfully.

"Marissa? It's like 5:30 in the morning." He moaned.

"Right, sorry its like 10 here." Marissa replied, "I just called cause I'm coming home early, my flight gets in 12. Pick me up?"

"Yeah of course, why are you coming home early?" Ryan asked.

"I'm home sick, I miss everyone." Marissa confessed.

"Well I'll see you in 6 hours. Love you." He said.

"Can't wait, love you too." She said and hung up the phone.


	44. Chapter 44

Ryan crawled out of bed around 10, he immediately got a shower and headed downstairs to grab something to eat before heading to the airport. Seth was sitting at the table eating too.

"Hey man, hows Summer?" Ryan asked.

"She's still in the poolhouse sleeping." Seth replied.

"How was she last night?" Ryan asked.

"She got sick a few times, I think she'll be in bed almost all day." Seth replied.

"Does she realized where she is?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah she told me she loved me last night, although I think it was the liquor talking not her true feelings." Seth mentioned, "She even tried to kiss me."

"She tried, did you let her?" Ryan wondered.

"No, I didn't want her doing anything she would regret today." Seth replied, "It was hard but it had to be done."

Ryan nodded, "Are you going to tell her you want her back?"

"I don't know, should I?" Seth asked.

"Your call man." Ryan replied.

"So where are you going so early today?" Seth asked.

"Airport, Marissa's coming home early." Ryan answered.

"Why, what happened?" Seth asked.

"Nothing, she called early this morning saying she was homesick and was coming home a day early, her flight gets in at 12." Ryan replied.

"I see, bring her back here. Maybe Summer will stay if she's here." Seth asked.

"I'll see, most likely." Ryan replied as Summer stumbled into the kitchen.

"Umm, sorry guys about last night." Summer said rubbing her head, "I really screwed up didn't I?"

"Nah its nothing." Ryan laughed.

"Yeah no don't worry about it, no harm done." Seth said, "Except maybe to Ryan and Zach."

"What?" Summer asked hoping she didn't do anything drastic.

"Ryan and Zach got into a little fight last night, see the bruised face?" Seth said pointing to Ryan.

"What! Chino, ouch. What happened?" Summer asked.

"Honestly?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah of course." Summer replied.

"Zach is an idiot and he deserved to be hit." Ryan replied.

"Who hit who first?" Summer asked.

"Zach hit Ryan first because Ryan told Zach he didn't deserve you." Seth informed.

"Why would you say that?" Summer asked.

"Because he was treating you like you were no body." Ryan replied, "Look I gotta jet, Seth can fill you in on the rest."

"Marissa's coming home early, her flight gets in at twelve." Seth said to Summer when Ryan left.

"Really? Is she coming back here?" Summer asked.

"Yeah I think so, you can stay if you'd like." Seth offered.

"Thanks Cohen." Summer said and sat down across from him.

"Really its no big deal, large house with plenty of room." Seth replied.

"Not for letting me stay but for taking care of me last night." Summer smiled.

"Yeah, I couldn't leave you alone in case something happened." Seth smiled softly at her, "headache today?"

"Yeah just a bit, you have anything for it?" Summer replied.

Seth nodded and left the room and returned with a couple of asprins.

They sat quietly, Seth was reading the paper and Summer was looking at the box of cereal.

"So Cohen, can I ask you something?" Summer asked.

"Sure." Seth replied.

"Why Paige?" She asked without looking up at him.

Seth was surprised she asked, he looked up at her thinking about his answer, "I don't know." He replied honestly.

"Do you think that we are over for good?" She asked, this time looking into his eyes.

Seth nodded, "I don't think so, at least I hope not."

"Neither do I." She smiled and looked back down, "Cohen could I go grab a shower before Chino and Coop get here? I have some clothes left here right?"

"Yeah, up on my chair in my room." Seth smiled.

Summer stood up and walked over to him, "Thank you Cohen." she said and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Seth wanted her so bad but decided to wait to talk to her.

Ryan arrived at the airport at exactly 12. He looked up to see if her plane had arrived yet, it hadn't so he walked around the airport. He stopped in a store and picked something up and returned to see if her flight had yet arrived, it had. He sat down waiting for her. When he saw her he smiled and immediately jumped up to greet her.

"Hey!" She said happily wrapping her arms around Ryan.

"Hey, how was your flight?" He asked before giving her a huge kiss.

"Long but I'm happy to be home." She smiled.

Ryan smiled and passed her a rose that he had purchased for her.

"Aww Ryan!" She smiled, "No wonder I was so homesick."

Ryan smiled and took her luggage and lead her out to the car. Marissa wrapped her arm around his.

"I missed you!" She said as they walked.

"Happy to hear it." Ryan joked when the got to the car. Ryan put the luggage into the trunk and opened Marissa's door before making his way to the drivers side.

"So how was the party last night?" Marissa asked when he got in noticing the bruise on his face.

"Uh, not that great actually." Ryan confessed looking at her like he was caught.

"Really? What happened?" Marissa asked.

"Everything or just how I got this?" He smiled pointing to his face.

"Well what is there to tell?" Marissa asked leaning in to kiss him, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, so I might as well tell you everything." Ryan started.

"I'm not going to like this am I?" Marissa asked feeling nervous.

"Well, Paige's friend Melanie kind of hit on me....she was convinced that I was willing to hook up with her or something....I told her flat out that I didn't want to hurt you and that I was not interested in her at all." Ryan confessed.

"Oh." Marissa said.

"Nothing happened I swear, you know I would never doing anything like that to you." Ryan said looking over at her with sad eyes.

Marissa nodded, "I know." She put her hand on Ryan's, "So who did you get into a fight with?"

"Zach." Ryan replied.

"Zach? Why? What happened, is Summer pissed at you?" Marissa asked.

"Summer was drinking last night so asked me early on in the night if I could drive her and Zach home when I was leaving, obviously I said ok. At around 2:30 Seth was ready to leave so I went to tell Summer and Zach. Summer tried to get Zach to leave but he was treating her like no one important, when she got up to leave with me she fell over because she had too much to drink." Ryan said.

"Really, Summer doesn't usually get like that." Marissa said concerened, "Something must have been wrong with her."

"Well all night I could tell she was bored, maybe that was why she was drinking." Ryan replied.

Marissa nodded, "Go on."

"When Summer fell over, I caught her and Zach looked over laughing at how drunk she was, not concerened one bit. I made a comment and eventually told him he didn't deserve her and then he threw a punch at me." Ryan said.

"Really?" Marissa said shocked, "Did you hit him back?"

"I punched him and he fell to the floor, so Summer and I left." Ryan replied.

Marissa smiled.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"You were there to stick up for Summer, that was really thoughtful." She smiled.

Ryan nodded, "Seth was concerned so we brought her back to our place. Seth spent the night in the poolhouse with her, he said this morning that she got up a few times to get sick. She just got up when I left to come get you."

"Do you think that they will get back together?" Marissa asked hopefully.

"I was trying, my plan was to get them together last night but things went wrong. Sorry!" Ryan smiled at her.

Marissa squeezed Ryan's hand, "You're like the best guy ever."

"I try." Ryan joked.

"So is Summer still at your place?" Marissa asked.

"I think Seth said he was going to get her to stay there until we got back, he really wants her back." Ryan replied.

Back at the cohen's.

Seth was in his room when Summer came out of the shower. She entered the room, dressed.

"Hows the head?" Seth asked.

"Not bad." Summer replied sitting down on the bed, Seth was sitting at his computer.

"Your cell rang a few times, I didn't answer it." Seth informed.

"Thanks." Summer said and picked it up to look at the number, "It was Zach."

"Oh, maybe you should call him back." Seth suggested, "You never know he may be worried about you now."

"Cohen he's a good guy, really." Summer defended.

"Right, I for one would have taken care of you last night instead of hanging out playing cards with my friends." Seth informed.

"I know, you did take care of me last night." Summer replied.

"Summer its 1, he could have called you a lot earlier to see how you were." Seth stated.

"What do you expect me to do Cohen?" Summer asked, "Its not like I'm the only one who moved on, you're with Paige now?"

"Summer, I wa..." Seth started, "Never mind."

"What, tell me!" Summer pleaded.

"Are you happy with Zach, does he make you happy?" Seth asked.

"I guess." Summer said softly.

"Well it doesn't matter." Seth replied

"But it does Seth......I'm still in love with you. I probably always will be." Summer said looking up to meet his eyes.

"Is that enough though?" Seth asked.

"Well its something." Summer said.

"Summer do I make you happy? Do I make your heart skip a beat? Am I the one you're meant to be with?" Seth asked.

"I was happy with you Seth, things got comfortable between us. I was still happy, its just we had no excitement." Summer confessed.

"You were bored?" Seth asked.

"I guess, but I don't blame that on you. I blame that on both of us, we got so comfortable around eachother we didn't try to do anything to impress eachother." Summer said thinking back, "Actually you did do some incredible things, sweet, romantic things but I guess we both needed a change and now I'm sort of regreting it."

"Regreting what?" Seth asked.

"Us taking a break. When I saw you with Alex, I knew it wasn't anything serious and it did bug me but not that much. When I saw you with Paige last week, it felt like the world was ripped out from under me. I hated it." Summer confessed.

"Because you don't like her?" Seth asked.

"No because I could see you falling for her and forgetting about me." Summer said.

"You know I could never forget about you." Seth replied.

"Do you still love me?" Summer asked.

Seth looked up at her, "I will always love you Summer."

"Maybe its time for us to fo...." Summer started but was stopped by Seth's lips hitting hers.

He wrapped his arms around her kissing her like it they waited eternity to do it. They were interrupted by a gasp coming from the hallway. Summer and Seth pulled away from eachother.

"OMG!" Marissa yelled happily running into the room and wrapped her arms around Seth and Summer.

Summer giggled, "Coop!"

"Are you too back together?" Marissa asked excited.

"I don't know." Summer said looking over at Seth....

Seth wrapped his arms around Summer, "I sure hope so."

Summer smiled, "I got to go do something first, I'll be back in a little while."

Summer gave Marissa another hug and left the room.


	45. Chapter 45

Once Summer was out of the room Marissa jumped onto the bed beside Seth.

"OK tell me everything." Marissa demanded.

"Tell you what?" Seth asked.

"Exactly what happened, how you two got back together?" Marissa said, "Ryan filled me on everything up to when he left to get me."

"I don't know earlier, just after Ryan left she asked me if we were over for good and I said that I hoped not. She went to get a shower and then came in here." Seth said.

"Ok, what happened when she came in here?" Marissa asked, "I want to know everything."

"I'm sure Summer will tell you." SEth said.

"I know she will but I can't wait till then." marissa replied.

"Umm wellshe told me that she still loved me and I asked her if that was enough." Seth started but paused, "We talked about why we broke up and realized it was a mistake."

Marissa's eyes filled up with tears, "I'm so happy you two are back together, now the group is back!!"

"We might not be yet, I'm assuming she's gone to see Zach right now." Seth said.

"Summer loves you Seth, I'm sure she's gone to break up with him this very moment." Marissa replied.

"How was your trip?" Seth asked trying to direct the conversation else where.

"It was great, oh I should show you guys the pictures!" She said happily pulling her digital camera from her purse.

She scrolled through the pictures, "Hey Seth let me hook it up to the computer, that way you can see them better!"

Seth nodded and Marissa showed them the pictures.

The first one was a group of girls, Marissa in the midded, "This is the girls I spent most of my time with, that one was my roommate Andre!"

"She's got a nice look to her." Seth smiled and Marissa glared at him.

"What?" Seth asked.

"You have eyes for my bestfriend only." She smiled and Seth nodded.

The next couple were just of the school and different sites Marissa liked, she then got to one of her and a boy, his arms wrapped around her.

She smiled and looked at Ryan, "This was Andrea's boyfriend Marc. He was very nice."

Ryan nodded and she continued on, there were pictures of a few boys that could have been of interest to Marissa but Ryan didn't care, she was there with him and it was obvious that she wanted him as much as he wanted to be with her.

Summer got to Zach's house and knocked on the door, his mother answered.

"Summer hi how are you?" She asked.

"I'm good Mrs. Hennings, is Zach here?" Summer asked.

"He's out by the pool, come through here." She smiled and led her to the patio door.

Summer looked out and saw Zach sitting on the patio chair with his friend Matt. Summer opened the door and Zach looked up.

"Hey babe!" Zach said as Summer approached him.

"Hey Zach, hi Matt." Summer said.

"How you feeling today Summer, you weren't in a good state last night." Mattt laughed.

"I'm feeling better." Summer replied.

"Marissa's boyfriend is going to get it next time I see him, that jerk knocked me to the floor last night." Zach informed.

"Sorry about that but he was just trying to help me out." Summer said trying to sound casual.

"We should try and hook Marissa up with Matt here then we wouldn't have to see the jerk ever again!" Zach suggested.

"I don't think that will happen Zach, Marissa is like totally into Chino!" Summer said.

"OK what's the matter, your like depressing today." Zach said.

"I just have a lot on my mind today." Summer replied.

Zach nodded and looked over to Matt, "Hey man why don't I catch up with you later."

Matt nodded and left them alone, "Come on lets go up stairs."

Summer followed Zach upstiars to his room, when they were inside Zach shut the door.

"So I could tell you needed some time alone." Zach said taking her hand into his, looking into her eyes.

Summer didn't know what to say to him.

"You just need to relax." Zach said, "Come here."

He started massaging her neck.

Summer was in love with Seth but when she was with Zach he had always made her forget about Seth. As he massaged her neck he started kissing her. Eventually he had her shirt off and had her laying on the bed. Once she realized what what happening she pulled away.

"Hey babe what's the matter?" Zach asked.

"We can't be doing this." She sighed putting her shirt back on.

"What, why not? It'll relax us both." Zach said.

"Zach I came here for another reason." Summer informed.

"Ok, what's wrong?" Zach asked.

"Zach I didn't plan this." Summer said.

"Plan what?" Zach asked taking her hand into his.

"Zach I like you but I need to be honest, I'm in love with someone else." Summer said feeling horrible.

"I know Summer, just give it time. We'll fix everything together. I'm patient." Zach said, "We can wait to have sex."

Summer closed her eyes, "Zach I don't want to get over him."

"What are you saying Summer?" Zach asked.

"Last night Ryan and Seth took me back to their house because I was really sick. I realized this morning that I want to be with Cohen, I miss him a lot." Summer said.

"So you're breaking up with me." Zach asked.

"I'm sorry!" Summer said.

"So am I..." Zach said and got up to open the door. He waited for Summer to leave. She got up and stood in front of him with sad eyes.

"I hope you don't hate me."

Zach didn't say anything and Summer left, he closed the door behind her.

She drove back to the Cohen's and knocked on the door. Marissa answered and let her in.

"Did you go see Zach?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah, I almost couldn't do it. We started making out." summer said, "But I did it."

"Seth went to go see Paige." Marissa informed.

"Oh." Summer said, "What are you and Chino doing?"

"Watching a movie, you can join us if you want." Marissa replied.

"Thanks." Summer smiled and followed Marissa.

"Hey Chino." Summer said and sat down on the chair.

"Hey!" Ryan replied, "You want a drink?"

"Sure, thanks." Summer replied.

Ryan returned shortly after with three drinks.

Seth still wasn't home4 after the movie was over.

"Maybe he's not breaking up with her." Summer said.

"Don't worry Sum, he loves you." Marissa replied.

"Maybe, but maybe he likes Paige enough to forget about me." Summer said.

"I don't think so Summer. Before he asked Paige out he told me he wanted you back and he was supposed to talk to you but I think if figured you moved on." Ryan informed.

"Really?" Summer asked.

"really!" Ryan replied.

"What's taking him so long then?" Summer asked.

"Because I had to go buy you these!" Seth said entering the room.

"Cohen!" She smiled as he passed her flowers. She jumped up and kissed him, "I love you Cohen!"

Kirsten walked in as her son and Summer were kissing.

"Does this mean what it looks like?" Kirsten asked.

Marissa and Ryan nodded, Seth looked up, "Mom remember my girlfriend Summer?"

Kirsten smiled and hugged Summer, "I knew you two would get back together!"


	46. Chapter 46

Months had gone by and the gang was finally graduating high school. The prom was finally here. Marissa and Summer had spent the early afternoon at the salon getting their hair, makeup and nails done.

"Can you believe it Coop?" Summer said happily, "We're finally finished!"

Marissa gave her a huge smile, she couldn't wait for the prom, to celebrat with her best friends.

Marissa had a satin red dress that hung extrememly low in the front and really low in the back.

Summer wore a pind 2 piece dress. The top was tight and strapless and the skirt was long and flowy, very pretty and elegant.

The boys rented an SUV limo, they drove to LA for dinner at a very elegant restaurant. No body cared though, they were just happy to be together.

Over the last few months the gang got really close. It wasn't just Seth and Ryan as bestfriends and Summer and Marissa as bestfriends but they all were close. Marissa and Seth were extrememly close as were Ryan and Summer, they told eachother everything and they did everything together.

WHen they arrived at the prom Ryan and Marissa went to get their pictures taken and found a comfortable table for the four of them.

"Can you believe this?" Marissa asked taking Ryan's hands into hers.

"I know its amazing isn't it." Ryan replied smiling, "You know what else is amazing?"

"Whats that?" Marissa asked.

"How incredibly beautiful you look tonight, that dress is.....I can't find the words to describe it." He smiled.

Marissa looked up at him slightly embarrased, "Thanks, I was hoping you'd like it."

Ryan leaned in and kissed her, "Although you look great in everything you wear though."

Marissa smiled, "I wonder where Seth and Summer are gone."

"I'd say they found a coat room or something to sneak into!" Ryan joked.

"That sounds like a fun idea!" Marissa smiled, "But I would probably ruin my hair and makeup."

"We have the next 2 months to find coat rooms to sneak off to." Ryan said.

"I know, I can't believe we're going to Europe together." Marissa smiled.

"I never would have imagined my life turning out like this." Ryan replied.

"Why?" Marissa asked.

"Before I came to Newport, graduating high school was the last thing I could imagine." Ryan replied.

Marissa looked down she always seemed to forget that hadn't always lived in Newport, "Right but this is exactly what you deserve and was meant for you."

She kissed him again, "I love you so much!"

Summer and Seth sat down next to them and Marissa sat back up in her chair.

"We figured you guys found a coat room or something." Ryan joked.

"Closet!" Summer smiled and winked at Seth.

Everyone laughed, "Hey we should all get our pictures together, I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Cohen would like one." Summer suggested.

"Yeah they would like that, I want one too!" Marissa replied looking at the boys.

Ryan and Seth nodded and followed the girls to line up for another picture.

After the picture was taken Marissa and Summer pulled the guys out to the dance floor for a few songs. Eventually they made their way back to the table to grab some refreshments.

"Chino we haven't had a dance yet, you promised!" Summer said taking Ryan by the hand.

"Yeah yeah, ok!" Ryan replied and Summer pulled him up.

"Come on Marissa lets show them up!" Seth said and took Marissa out for a dance as well.

After a few hours someone came on to the microphone saying that the next song would be the last. Ryan took Marissa and led her to the floor and held her close as they played the graduation song. Seth and Summer were not to far away dancing close together as well.

"We made it Ryan, together!" Marissa whispered into his ear.

Ryan pulled her closer and when the song was done everyone cheered and made their way to parties that were going on post-prom.

Summer, Seth, Marissa and Ryan slowly made their way out to the limo.

"Where to now kids?" The limo driver asked.

"Back to our house." Seth smiled wrapping his arms around Summer.

"No party to go to?" The limo driver asked.

"We're having our own 4 person party!" Summer said happily.

"Not the social group I see." The limo driver commented.

"Guess not." Ryan replied.

Eventually the group arrived home, Sandy and Kirsten were already gone to bed and the group walked out back. There were blankets laid out by the pool and junk food laid out on the table. Candles were lit all around them.

Everyone looked around and smiled, "God love the parents!" Seth said.

"Pictures, I want more pictures!" Summer yelled pulling out her camera.

Ryan and Marissa sat down on the blankets cuddled up together for a picture, Seth and Ryan got one taken while they were goofing off, Marissa and Summer hugged eachother smiling at one another while Seth took the picture, Seth pretended to be throwing Marissa into the pool for their picture, Summer got on Ryan's back to look like he was giving her a piggy back ride for their pictures, and Seth and Summer sat down among the blakets for their picture as well.

They looked at them, it was perfect each picture showed how much everyone cared for eachother and how much fun they had with one another.

"I'm going to go change into something a little more comfortable." Marissa said.

"Good idea Coop!" Summer said, "Can I go up to your room, my overnight back is up ther Cohen."

"Yeah, I'm going to come too, throw on something else." Seth said and followed Summer into the house.

Marissa and Ryan walked into the poolhouse and Marissa found a gift box next to her overnight bag with her name written on it. She looked over at Ryan who was sitting down on the bed smiling at her.

"Ryan!" She said and picked it up and brought it over and sat next to him.

"Did you buy me something?" Marissa asked.

"Its nothing big." Ryan replied rubbing his hand on her back.

She opened the box up and pulled out a Yale sweater.

She smiled at him when she realized what it was.

"I know I kind of got weird when you told me you were going to Yale, I just wanted you to know that I'm ok with it. It's such a great opportunity for you and I was being selfish." Ryan said.

"Thank you." She smiled and kissed him, "You know I'll do anything to make us work."

Ryan nodded, "I know!"

She leaned over and kissed him, "I'm going to go put this on, I'll be right back."

Marissa disappeared into the bathroom and Ryan took his tie and jacket off leaving just his shirt and pants on and waited for Marissa to return. When she did they walked hand and hand out to the pool.

Summer and Seth returned not long after.

"Coop where did you get that Yale sweater?" Summer asked.

"Ryan just gave it to me." marissa smiled.

"I can't believe you and Cohen are moving that far away, what am I going to do without the both of you." Summer said, almost in tears.

"Ryan will be close to you." Marissa said.

"I know but Chino can't do things that I need Seth to do and Coop he's not going to go get his nails done with me like you do." Summer moaned.

"Don't worry Sum." Marissa said as Seth wrapped his arms around her.

"You guys do you know it like snows in connecticut?" Summer said, "And its cold, who wants to live in the cold?"

"Summer lets not worry about this right now, we have the Summer to look forward to first!" Seth said.

"Your right, we're going to have so much fun this summer. 2 months in Europe." Summer said happily.

"Mom said that Hailey and Jimmy are coming to meet us with Mom and Dad, did he tell you that Marissa?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, their coming when we're in France right? They wanted to rent a house in South France for a couple of weeks." Marissa said happily.

"Too bad your dad can't come, he couldn't reschedule his surgeries?" Seth asked Summer.

"No but I'm used to it, I love your parents and Coop's dad so it will be fun anyway." Summer said, "He rented us this beach house in Greece for a week, it's beautiful, I have a picture that I'll show you guys tomorrow!"

"Cool!" Seth said.

The gang spent the next few hours talking away.


	47. Chapter 47

Sandy, Kirsten, Jimy and Hailey left for Connecticut a few days later while the gang was finishing up classes and exams. Since both Seth and marissa were attending Yale, they decided to get a place together.

Marissa and Seth had three on-campus places picked out but gave their parents the ok to make the final decision.

Kirsten decided it would be best to get everything ready early. They were going to Connecticut to shop and make all the arrangements so no one would have to worry about it later on in the summer.

Marissa was accepted into the journalism program; Seth was accepted into the arts faculty.

Ryan was enrolled at the Berkeley campus of the University of California, he was taking an engineering program; Summer was enrolled at the San Fransico campus of the same university just 30 minutes away from Ryan, she was going to be studying pharmacuticals (sp).

Kirsten'ts company had real estate up the coast of California, she had arrangements already made for Ryan and had helped Summer with her living arrangements as well.

Exams were finally finished and the parents weren't returning home until the next evening.

"Come on we have to have fun tonight, we're all done high school and I'm getting wasted!" Summer said jumping into Seth's arms when she meet him after her last exam.

"Sure, the rents are away lets take complete advantage of that." Seth said as Marissa appraoched.

"Take advantage of what?" Marissa asked.

"We're getting wasted tonight Coop!" Summer said, "You in?"

"Count me in!" Marissa replied, "I wonder if Ryan will be interested?"

"Ryan finished early, he went home to have a nap." Seth said.

"Well what are you guys doing now?" marissa asked.

"I'm starved Cohen can we go get something for lunch?" Summer asked.

"Yeah sure, Marissa you coming?" Seth asked.

"Yup!" Marissa replied and followed her friends to the cars.

Summer, Seth and Marissa went to the Crab shack for lunch. They talked and laughed enjoying the whole time. Marissa ordered something to take back to Ryan after they finished eating, figuring he probably wouldn't have gotten himself anything.

"Coop want to go to the beach after you drop that off to Chino?" Summer asked.

"Yeah we haven't gone in how long?" Marissa replied.

"In like forever Coop!" Summer replied.

"Well I'll leave now and bring Ryan his lunch, I'll meet you at your house?" Marissa asked.

Marisssa got up and left. Summer and Seth decided to stay a little while longer and order dessert. Marissa got to the Cohen's and knocked on the door but Ryan didn't answer so she just walked right in and laid the food on the counter and went up to see Ryan. When she went into his room she found him asleep. She didn't want to wake him up so she grabbed a piece of paper and wrote him a little note.

Hey Ryan  
Seth told me you came home for a nap after your last exam, hope it went well by the way! Seth, Sum and I grabbed some lunch at the Crab Shack and I brought you back something to eat, hope you enjoy it. Sum and I are heading to the beach now so I'll talk to you later.  
Luv ya Marissa.

She left it on his pillow and left.

Summer and Marissa spent the rest of the day at the beach.

"Coop can I tell you something?" Summer asked.

"Sure, what's up?" Marissa asked.

"I'm really happy you can Cohen will be living together next year, there's no one in the world I trust more than you." Summer said.

"Thanks Sum, but what's up? You never talk like this." Marissa said surprised.

"I know its just now that we're finished high school and we're all going our separate ways it scares me." Summer started, "I love you Coop and I love Cohen. I know you and I will always be friends, best friends and I hope Cohen and I last. I honestly don't think we would have if he was living anywhere else. I know you'll tell me if anythings going on with him and I know I can trust you and him living together."

Marissa leaned over and hugged Summer, "I know you don't have anything to worry about but, Sum, if he stray believe me I'll tell you and I'll kick his as$ for you!"

"Thanks, and when ever I can I'll check up on Chino for you!" Summer smiled.

"Thanks!" Marissa laughed, "But honestly Sum I don't think either of us has anything to worry about. Our guys are crazy about us, just as crazy we are over them!"

Summer nodded, "Thanks Coop, I needed to hear that!"

As the girls were talking a couple of people they knew from school approached them.

"Summer! Marissa!" A girl called out.

Marissa and Summer quickly looked for whoever was calling their names.

"Hey!" Marissa said.

"Hi Amber, how does it feel to be a high school graduate?" Summer asked.

"Great I'm ready to party!" Amber said happily, "John and I are throwing a party tonight and you guys are more than welcome to come, bring your boyfriends it'll be fun!"

"Where are you having it?" Marissa asked.

"John's house, his parents are gone to their house in New York for a few days." Amber replied, "John said he was talking to Ryan today in school and he invited him but Ryan turned down the offer so make sure you talk him into coming. Its like the last time we can all party together!"

"Sounds fun to me, don't worry I'll get hime to go!" Marissa said.

"Will Seth come?" Amber asked.

"I'm sure he will." Summer replied.

"Great see you tonight!" Amber said and walked down the beach.

"Do you think you can get Chino to go?" Summer asked.

"No problem!" Marissa said looking down at her arms.

"Coop maybe we should get going, you're burning up over there!" Summer said tossing Marissa her shirt.

Marissa packed her stuff up and followed Summer to the car.

"Can we stop at the Cohen's before going back to your place. I want to see if I can get Ryan to go to the party." Marissa asked.

"Sure, I can mention it to Cohen then." Summer said.

When they got to the Cohen's Seth was sitting infront of the tv watching the Valley.

"The Valley's on?" Summer said jumping onto the couch beside Seth.

"Reruns!" Seth said.

"Who cares its the Valley!" Summer said with her eyes glued to the tv.

"Seth is Ryan up get?" Marissa asked.

"He's in the shower." Seth replied without looking at her.

Marissa stood admiring Seth and Summer amazed how zoned out they get while watching the show. Marissa laughed and walked up to Ryan's room.

She sat down on his bed and waited for him to get out of the shower. We he came into the room, he was wearing his jeans and his body was still wet from the shower. Marissa looked at him and smiled but tried to hide it.

Ryan noticed and it made him smile in return, "Hey!"

"Hi." Marissa smiled slightly embarassed.

Ryan grabbed a pair of socks from his drawer and sat down next to Marissa.

"Did you eat your lunch?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah thanks. I was starving when I got up and when I read your not it made my day." Ryan replied.

"Good!" Marissa smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

"How was your day at the beach?" Ryan asked as he finished putting his socks on.

"Great I ran into Amber, John's girlfriend." Marissa started.

Ryan nodded knowing what she was about to ask.

"And as you already know they are having a party tonight." Marissa added.

Ryan looked up at her, "You want to go?"

"Well we're leaving for Europe soon and we're spending our entire summer in Europe, when will we get to see everyone from school again?" Marissa asked.

"Does it really matter?" Ryan stated.

"Well yeah it does, I grew up with these people and today is a day we should go out and party with everyone who accomplished the same thing we have." Marissa replied.

Ryan knew he wasn't going to win and would have to go to the party, "I'll go under on condition!"

Marissa looked at him surprised, "That was easy!"

"I said under one condition!" Ryan replied.

"Ok what is the condition?" Marissa asked.

Ryan leaned into Marissa and started kissing her, gentally pushing her down on the bed.

"Is this the condition?" Marissa laughed as she wrapped her arms around Ryan.

"Well I figured I wasn't going to get out of going no matter what so I might as well have fun before!" Ryan smiled.

Marissa kissed him, "Well I'm not objecting!"

Ryan smiled and started kissing her again.

Summer and Seth finished watching the Valley and Summer told him about the party, he agreed to go if Ryan agreed.

"I wonder what's taking Coop so long!" Summer said standing up.

"Well Marissa had to wait for Ryan to get out of the shower." Seth said getting up after Summer.

"Well I got to get home and get ready." Summer said.

"Just go up and get her, I'm sure she's ready to leave. I'm sure she already asked him." Seth said.

Summer nodded and started for the stairs and Seth followed.

Summer reached Ryan's room and quickly knocked before walking in. Once in she stopped immediately and Seth walked in and stopped as well.

"OMG Eww!" Summer said, "Oh sorry, um. ok. I'm leaving now!"

Summer turned around and they both left the room shutting the door behind them.

"Coop said she would convince Chino to go to the party with no problems, I didn't think she's have to do that!" Summer said.

Seth just laughed, "Can I change my answer about going to the party?"

Summer hit him in the arm, "We just walked in on our best friends having sex!"

"So, they are dating and it is something that we know they do." Seth replied.

"But I never wanted to see them doing it!" Summer said, "Eww!"

Seth wrapped his arms around her, "I can make you feel better!"

Summer laughed, "I think I've seen enough of that for one day but maybe after the party!"

Seth nodded and they returned downstairs.

"I can't believe she walked in on us!" Marissa said throwing her clothes on.

Ryan just laughed, "Its not like she saw much, we were under the sheets."

"Ryan she walked while we were about to, you know!" Marissa said, "It's not just it being embarrassing that she walked in on us but it ruined it!"

Ryan laughed, "I'm sure she feels just as embarrassed as we are!"

"Sorry!" Marissa said wrapping her arms around Ryan after they both were dressed.

Ryan smiled, "Hey its not your fault!"

"I know, it was just so good before she came in!" Marissa sighed.

"You like it huh?" Ryan smiled.

Marissa kissed him and opened the door, "Will you guys pick us up?"

"Yeah no problem!" Ryan replied and Marissa left.

When Marissa came into the living room Summer looked up at her, "I'm so sorry Coop, I didn't think the two of you would be doing that!"

"It's ok Sum, a little embarrased but its ok." Marissa replied not able to look them in the eyes.

"Well its not like we saw anything, I swear!" Summer informed.

Marissa laughed.

Summer and Marissa left to get ready for the party.

Ryan and Seth picked the girls up around 9 and they headed to the party. The gang decided to leave the car at John's and enjoy the night. Ryan and Seth made their way to the keg while Summer and Marissa made their way to the kitchen to pour their drinks up.

Ryan and Seth sat down with John and his friends. John was on Ryan's soccer team and they became 'at school' buddies, Ryan and Marissa once double dated with John and Amber but that was the extent of their friendship.

Marissa and Summer found a group of girls playing cards and ended joining the game.

A few hours later Marissa started looking around, "I haven't see the guy around since we got here."

"Don't worry Coop their having a good time and so are we!" Summer said downing the last of her drink.

"I know, its just Ryan is usually pushing to go home by now!" Marissa said.

"Be happy that he's not Coop!" Summer said as she stood up, "Fill up?"

"Yeah might as well!" Marissa agreed.

Another girl was dealing the cards out so Marissa looked around the room to see if she could notice Ryan anywhere. She spotted him out on the deck talking to a group of people, she smiled cause it looked like he was actually enjoying himself.

Summer returned with their drinks, "Doubled them up this time!"

Marissa tapped her glass with Summers and they both took a drink, "To all things to come!"

Both girls laughed and picked their cards up to continue playing.

Ryan was actually happy he came, he was feeling pretty good from the dozen or so beers he had and he was actually enjoying the people around him.

Seth found a group of guys playing play station which he ended up joining a couple hours ago.

After another 2 hours Summer and Marissa were getting bored with the card game and left the table. Summer noticed Seth over by the tv and made her way to him. Marissa couldn't see Ryan so she went outside and sat down looking out at the water.

Ryan had been in the bathroom and started looking around for Marissa, he finally saw her sitting outside by herself. He made his way outside and kneeled behind her and put his hands on her shoulder.

She immediately turned her head and when she saw Ryan she smiled, "Hey!"

"Having a good time?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah I was." Marissa replied returning her eyes to the ocean.

"You were?" Ryan asked sitting next to her.

"I got bored, we were playing cards a little to long." Marissa laughed, "You looked like you were having a good time, happy we came?"

Ryan nodded, "Yeah actually I am!"

"Good!" Marissa smiled and leaned her head down on his shoulder, "I'm tired."

"Ready to go home?" Ryan asked.

"Can we just stay here a little while longer?" Marissa asked.

"Sure what ever you want." Ryan replied taking her hand into his.

"I hope this summer goes by so slow Ryan." Marissa said.

Ryan looked over at her, "Why?"

"Because I don't know how I'm going to handle not seeing you every day." Marissa said.

"We'll get through it, we'll figure something out!" Ryan said confident.

Summer and Seth made their way out with Ryan and Marissa.

"Hey guys!" Seth said overly happy.

"Hey." Both Marissa and Ryan said together, "Someone is feeling really good!" Ryan laughed.

"Whats going on out here?" Summer asked shaking her head at Seth.

"We're just sitting!" Marissa replied.

"Well Cohen and I want to go home, you two ready?" Summer asked.

"Marissa?" Ryan asked looking over at her.

"Yeah I'm ready to leave too!" Marissa said.

Ryan stood up and held his hand out for Marissa. She took it and the four walked out of the house.

"How are we getting home?" Ryan said looking around.

"Yeah how are we?" Summer asked.

Marissa looked around and noticed two people walk out of the house.

"Josh! Carl!" Marissa called out, she knew they didn't drink.

Josh and Carl looked at eachother and approached Marissa.

"We don't have a ride home, did you two drive together?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah?" Josh answered confused.

"Look we need a ride home, can one of you drive our car back to the Cohen's?" Marissa asked.

Josh looked over at Carl, "Sure no problem!"

About 10 minutes later they were back home, car in the driveway and all!


	48. Chapter 48

Marissa and Ryan went to bed, they both were tired. Summer and Seth were both still wide awake. They made it back to Seth's room and tumbled onto the bed with eachother giggiling. Eventually they were throwing eachothers clothes on the floor.

The next morning Kirsten and Sandy arrived home early, they had taken a late flight the previous day. Kirsten couldn't wait to show Seth which room they had picked for him and Marissa .

"I'm going to go get him up, I can't wait to show him everything we did!" Kirsten said and laid her bag down beside Sandy and made her way up to Seth's room.

Seth's door was closed but Kirsten didn't bother thinking anything and walked in to find Seth and Summer asleep in his bed. Clothes all over the floor. Kirsten looked in at her son in shock but didn't say anything, she just walked out and down stairs.

"Did you get him up?" Sandy asked pouring himself and Kirsten up a cup of coffee.

"No." Kirsten said still shocked.

"What's the matter?" Sandy asked, "Is he up stairs?"

"I walked into his room and Summer is up there with him, their clothes were thrown all over the room." Kirsten said.

Sandy laughed, "Oh!"

"I knew they were doing this but seeing the proof of it isn't good." Kirsten said, "I don't like it."

"Oh honey!" Sandy laughed.

Ryan walked into the kitchen surprised to see Kirsten and Sandy, "Uh hey when did you guys get in?"

"Good morning Ryan!" Sandy said still laughing.

"We just got in a few minutes ago." Kirsten said still weirded out by what she saw.

"Ok what's going on?" Ryan asked, "Sandy's laughing and you look like you saw a ghost."

"Kirsten wanted to tell Seth about his place at Yale and when she went up to get him she." Sandy started.

"Found Seth and Summer?" Ryan cut him off.

"Exactly, clothes thrown all over the floor!" Sandy laughed.

"It's not funny Sandy, that's my baby boy!" Kirsten replied.

"So how was your night, I assume Marissa's here too." Sandy smiled.

"Uh actually she is." Ryan replied, "But we didn't have an exciting night like Summer and Seth obviously did."

Ryan looked at Kirsten and back at Sandy, "Are Seth and I in trouble?"

"Nah." Sandy said.

Marissa walked into the kitchen and turned bright red, "Kirsten? Sandy? Umm hi."

"Good morning Marissa." Sandy smiled.

"Hi Marissa." Kirsten said.

Marissa looked over at Ryan to see if they were in trouble, Ryan pulled a chair out for Marissa to sit down beside him.

"Kirsten walked into Seth's room and found Seth and Summer in bed together." Ryan laughed.

"Really?" Marissa replied.

"Clothes thrown all over the floor too!" Sandy said, "I hear your evening wasn't as eventful."

Marissa smiled, "Doesn't sound like it, Ryan and I went to sleep the second our heads hit the pillow."

No body said anything and Marissa was still feeling uncomfortable.

"So are we in trouble?" Marissa asked.

"Look its to be expected, you guys are finished high school and will be gone to Europe together in a couple of days theres not much to be said." Sandy replied.

"Well Marissa since you're here I can show you the place we picked for you and Seth." Kirsten said grabbing her back and pulled out a bunch of pictures.

Marissa and Ryan looked at the pictures, "You guys picked my favourite one!"

"Really, I loved it too. The bedrooms are huge, there's plenty of windows and it's in the best location too. Do you like the furniture we picked out? What about the colours?" Kirsten asked.

"Everything looks amazing." Marissa said happy with everything.

"Your dad and Hailey decorated your room. It's great too, they have the pictures." Kirsten replied.

"Thank you." Marissa smiled.

"We have your phone arranged, internet, cable. Everything will be hooked up a few days before you guys get there." Kirsten informed.

"Connecticut is beautiful too, we found a great market and the airport is not far away either." Sandy added.

"Oh that reminds me while we were at the airport we decided to get you something too Ryan." Kirsten said and dug into the bag and pulled out an envelop.

Ryan looked at her confused and opened it and pulled out 2 open tickets to Connecticut, "We figured you could go to visit Marissa and Seth during your midterm breaks."

Ryan smiled, "Thanks! You didn't have to but its great."

Marissa smiled, "My dad bought me two tickets as well so I can come home for thanksgiving and Christmas."

"Ryan man are you cooking breakfast?" Seth called out from the stairs.

Ryan didn't say anything and Seth came down and into the kitchen.

Seth stopped in his tracks the moment he saw his parents, "Uh hey you're home early."

"Go get Summer up and we'll all go out for breakfast." Kirsten said.

"Summer? What Summer isn't here." Seth lied.

"Your mom went into your room this morning, she's knows Summer is here Seth." Ryan laughed thinking it was pay back for Seth and Summer walking in on him and Marissa earlier yesterday.

Seth nodded, "Right I forgot I'll go get her."

After breakfast Marissa and Summer headed home.

"Now I can show you everything we did in your apartment, Marissa loves it." Kirsten said as they entered the house.

"Cool!" Seth replied.

Seth was happy with everything. Later on Ryan and Seth went to their rooms to start packing up some things so it would be done before they left on their trip. Ryan decided to drive up to Berkley with some of his things so he wouldn't have to do it at the end of the summer. Marissa dropped by later on.

"You're packing already?" Marissa asked as she entered his room.

"Hey!" He smiled looking up from what he was doing, "I figured I'd drive up to Berkley tomorrow and drop off my things so I can stop at Yale before the school year starts."

"Really?" Marissa said happily, "Can I drive up with you tomorrow? I'd love to see where you will be living."

"I was going to ask Seth but if you want to some that would be great." Ryan replied.

Marissa looked around his room and spotted his guitar.

"Do you still play your guitar?" Marissa asked picking it up.

"Yeah, usually about three times a week." Ryan replied.

"Really thats good. Are you taking it with you to school?" Marissa asked.

"Definitely, its a great stress reliever." Ryan replied.

"Oh yeah?" Marissa said laying it next to his packed stuff, "So are we staying at Berkley tomorrow night or coming home?"

"I was originally planning to come home but maybe we could spend the night." Ryan suggested.

"That would be cool, fun!" Marissa smiled.

"So what were you doing today?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing, my dad wasn't home so I decided to come visit you. I'm supposed to go out for dinner with him later on." Marissa said, "You want to join us?"

"I shouldn't, he'll want to spend time alone with you before we leave on Saturday." Ryan replied.

"Actually he specifically asked me to ask you." Marissa replied, "He wanted to talk to you."

Ryan looked up at her, "Why?"

"I have no idea, maybe he wants you to propose to me or something." Marissa said as serious as she could.

Ryan immediately looked up at her with wide eyes, "Propose?"

"Yeah, now that we're finished school he thinks its probably best for us to get married." Marissa said trying not to laugh, "He thinks 18 is the perfect age to get married."

"Propose?" Ryan mumbled.

"What?" Marissa asked, "Don't you want to marry me?"

"Marriage?" Ryan mumbled.

Marissa started laughing, "I'm kidding Ryan, he'd probably have a heart attack if we told him we were getting married."

Ryan took a deep breath, "I think I just had one!"

"What the idea of marrying me is that bad?" Marissa asked.

"No, um just the thought of marriage gives me a heart attack. Sorry but you're not getting any rings for a long time!" Ryan replied.

"But there's a chance in the future that you would ask me to marry you?" Marissa smiled.

"Yeah why wouldn't there be?" Ryan asked looking up at her.

"I'm just, nothing. So you coming for dinner with us?" Marissa asked.

"Sure, as long as no one talks about marriage!" Ryan laughed.

"Promise!" Marissa smiled and kissed him.

Marissa left not long after to get ready for dinner.

Jimmy, Hailey and Marissa were picking Ryan up at 6, they had 6:30 reservations.

"Where are you going dressed up?" Sandy asked Ryan as he came into the kitchen wearing dress pants and a blazer.

"Dinner with Marissa, her dad and Hailey." Ryan replied.

"Great, so Kirsten mentioned you going to Berkley tomorrow." Sandy said.

"Yeah I figured I'd drop some of my things off so I can spend some time with Seth and Marissa at Yale before school starts." Ryan mentioned.

"That's a great idea Ryan." Sandy replied, "Maybe I could go with you tomorrow."

"Marissa said she'd like to go." Ryan informed.

"Oh." Sandy replied.

Ryan studied Sandy carefully and could tell it was something he obviously wanted to do.

"I could tell her that you are going to come with me." Ryan suggested.

"Really? Because that's where I went to school and I'd love to go with you. I can show you where we used to live, our favourite restaurant. We can make a day out of it. It's nice that one of my son's will be going to Berkley." Sandy said.

"I'll let Marissa know tonight." Ryan smiled.

"If you would rather go with Marissa it wouldn't be a problem." Sandy offered.

"No, I'd like to go with you." Ryan replied.

Sandy smiled, "We're going to miss you boys when you are away."

Marissa came into the kitchen, "Hi Mr. Cohen. Ryan are you ready?"

"Yeah, uh Sandy and I were just talking about Berkley. We were thinking maybe Sandy come with me tomorrow. Would you mind if just Sandy and I go?" Ryan asked.

Marissa smiled, "Of course not, I think that its a great idea. It'll give you guys some time together before we leave for Europe." Marissa replied.

"You sure, you can come with us if you want." Sandy offered.

"Thanks but I have lots to do anyway. Maybe Seth would like to go too, you guys used to live there right?" Marissa asked.

"We did. What do you think about Seth coming, Ryan?" Sandy asked.

"Maybe Kirsten too? We can make it a family thing?" Ryan suggested.

"Great idea. Well you guys have a good time tonight. Say hi to Jimmy and Hailey for me ok Marissa?" Sandy asked and patted Ryan on the shoulders, "Tomorrow is going to be great!"

Ryan nodded and Sandy left the two alone in the kitchen.

"Sorry, are you mad?" Ryan asked.

"No of course not, the Cohen's are you family Ryan and I think its important to bond with them and spend quality time with them." Marissa replied.

Ryan smiled, "You look really great tonight."

"You do too, but we have to get going. My dad and Hailey are outside waiting for us in the car."

Ryan pulled her in for a quick kiss, "Thanks for being so great!"

"Just remember how great I am!" Marissa laughed and pulled Ryan towards the door


	49. Chapter 49

The four were sitting down to eat at the restaurant.

"So Ryan are you looking forward to you guys going to Europe?" Jimmy asked.

"I can't wait, I never imagined I would ever spend an entire summer in Europe, let alone ever visiting it." Ryan replied.

"It's wonderful the people, the food, the buildings, everything is incredible." Hailey said, "I spent a lot of time in France, mostly partying but we did a lot of sight seeing."

"We're going to have fun right Marissa?" Ryan asked reaching over to take her hand.

Marissa smiled and nodded.

"Well there was two things I wanted to talk to you two about. I know this is probably going to make the both of you uncomfortable but you two have such a bright future ahead of you." Jimmy stated.

Marissa looked up at her dad unsure what he was about it say, Ryan squeezed Marissa's hand.

"You two are going to be spending the entire summer together alone, no supervision, no one telling you what to do, things are going to be completely up to you guys." Jimmy said.

"Ok dad what are you getting at?" Marissa asked.

"Your mom and I were only a couple years older than the two of you and I remember what I was doing at your age and the things that can happen. I'm asking the both of you to be careful, don't make any mistakes. Ryan I know you went through this before and I know you know how scary it can be, how it changes your entire life....you two are about to entire an important part of your life and I don't want you two to jeopordize it in any way. I know you two are sexually active, together, and I know you will continue to be but kiddo I want you to promise me that you will be completely careful that nothing happens." Jimmy said quickly because he was uncomfortable saying it.

Marissa was shocked and looked over at Ryan who went almost white.

"Dad I never really wanted to talk to you about this but I can assure you that Ryan and I are careful, always. I take my birth control pills faithfully everyday and we always use protection, faithfully." Marissa said quietly.

"I just want your promise that you will always be as careful as you've been in the past." Jimmy said.

"I promise daddy, Ryan and I are not ready for any babies right now and we don't plan on letting it happen." Marissa said.

"I promise sir, Marissa won't get pregnant." Ryan said softly, "I love her and I plan on staying with her for a long time but a baby is the last thing on our minds."

Jimmy let out a sigh of reliefe, "Good I'm happy to hear that, so now for the next bit of news."

Jimmy reached his hand out for Hailey's, "Hailey and I are getting married when we visit you guys in Europe."

Marissa's face lightened up, "Oh my god really!"

"So you're happy for us kiddo?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah of course I am, you deserve to be happy dad and I know Hailey makes you happy. Congratulations!" Marissa said jumping out of her seat to hug her dad and Hailey.

"That's great you guys, congratulations." Ryan said smiling.

"We were kind of planning on getting married before everyone else joins us, so we can take a few days for ourselves before everyone gets there. We were hoping you two would be in the wedding, Ryan you as my best man and Marissa as Haileys maid of honor!" Jimmy said.

"Really, I would be honored." Ryan replied with a smile.

"Of course, this is going to be fantastic." Marissa said looking over at Ryan with a huge smile.

They finished their meal and Jimmy dropped Ryan off at the Cohen's, Marissa went home to finish packing for their trip. They were leaving in three days

Sandy and Kirsten woke the boys up early the next day for their road trip to Berkely. Sandy and Ryan packed the car with Ryan's pocessions and by 9 the family was on the road.

"So when we get there we can get lunch at Archie's." Sandy suggested.

"Archie's? I love Archie's!" Kirsten replied thinking back, "We met at Archie's!"

"Good choice with school Ryan, the 'rents are forcing us to go down memory lane with them, if you had gone to Yale like me and Marissa we wouldn't be doing this now!" Seth whinned.

Ryan gave Seth a glare.

"Fine Ryan but I be you within a month you'll regret not being with Marissa, you don't know how to live without her." Seth said.

"Right and you can live without Summer?" Ryan asked.

Seth didn't say anything else and Ryan smiled.

"We're happy that the four of you are doing what you want and not following eachother because you don't want things to change." Kirsten said looking back at the boys.

The boys nodded knowing it would be hard but knowing it would be worth it.

They finally arrived in Berkely, Ryan looked around and liked what he was seeing. It was busy but not overly, the city was nicely landscapped and the buildings were old but well kept.

"This place seems nice." Ryan stated.

"Isn't it!" Sandy replied pulling into a small parking lowt with a building flashing "Archie's", the r and i were burnt out.

The family found a booth at the back of the restaurant.

"Do you remember eating here Seth?" Sandy asked.

"Actually I do, I used to get a big glass of chocolate milk with my grilled cheese sandwich. I think that's what I ordering." Seth replied.

Kirsten smiled, "BLT toasted, that is my favourite!"

"Bacon cheeseburger with the works, now Ryan you have to pick your Archie meal......its a tradition!" Sandy laughed.

Ryan nodded and glanced through the menu and decided on the chicken salad sandwich with a plate of fries.


	50. Chapter 50

After lunch they stopped at Ryan's apartment.

"Oh God mom, you can't make Ryan live here, its...its...gross." Seth said looking around.

"Seth...really its ok....it probably just needs a good cleaning." Ryan said..

"No man, I'm not visiting you here and I am going to visit you so there is only one alternative....plus Marissa won't visit you here either." Seth said.

"Ryan Seth's right. You're not staying here, its not fit. Why don't we check out the dorms and see if there's any available.. If not we'll go apartments shopping." Kirsten offered.

"Really, I've lived in worse." Ryan informed.

"Not any more. COme on lets go get you something you deserve to live it." Sandy said and everyone followed.

"You know Andrea and Daniel's daughter is starting at Berkely this year too." Kirsten said to Sandy as they were driving.

"Right maybe she can show you around in September Ryan." Sandy suggested, "We should stop in to see them before we leave."

"Yes we should, we haven't see them in years." Kirsten replied.

"Since Seth had his fifth birthday party, we talk to them all the time I don't know why we haven't gotten together with them." Sandy wondered.

"We can introduce Ryan and Katie." Kirsten said.

"Oh Ryan I bet you marissa will get jealous.' Seth teased and Ryan gave him a elbow in the shoulder.

Once they arrived at Berkely they made there way to the student services centre.

"Hi my name is Sandy Cohen, I have a son who is attending here in the fall and we just discovered the apartment we had arranged for him is unsatisfactory. Do you have any dorm rooms available?" Sandy asked.

The lady started checking her computer, "Yes sir we have one apartment style left. Ift's a three bedroom and its already grabbed up by two people...one male and one female."

"Is there anything else?" Kirsten asked.

"No I'm sorry." She replied.

"Ryan what do you want to do, if you don't want to live with strangers we can always look for an apartment." Kirsten said.

"Honestly anything is fine, this is fine." Ryan replied.

They accepted the room but unfortunately Ryan couldn't bring his stuff early.

They went to visit Andrea and Daniel next. Sandy and Kirsten were talking with their friends and Ryan and Seth were sitting down watching tv in the living room.

"That must be Katie, she's hot man." Seth said.

Ryan looked up at the picture Ryan was referring to, "Yeah she's cute. And look she has a boyfriend."

"Like you care. Marissa had a boyfriend when you met her." Seth said.

"And I didn't have a girlfriend when I met Marissa. What are you saying, I'm going to cheat on Marissa while I'm at school with Katie?" Ryan asked.

"No I was just saying there's a cute looking girl who more or likely will end up being a pretty good friend to you." Seth said.

"Just be quiet Seth, besides Seth I don't cheat." Ryan laughed.

"Ryan! Seth! Come meet Katie." Kirsten called out.

Ryan and Seth hestitantly got up.

"Katie this is Seth and this is Ryan. Ryan will be going to Berkley in the fall, just like you." Kirsten said.

"Hi, so where are you planning on staying?" Katie asked.

"In one of the dorms, not really sure where yet. I don't know the number." Ryan replied.

"You didn't check, did you know you can check on the website." Katie informed.

"Really, I should check when I get home." Ryan replied.

"Check it out now, come on I'll show you." Katie said.

Ryan and Seth followed Katie to the computer room, "So I hear you're going to Yale. My boyfriend's bestfriend is going to Yale in September too. She's looking for a roommate, do you need one?"

"Uh actually I got a place with Ryan's girlfriend Marissa. She's attending Yale as well." Seth replied.

"You don't mind being that far away from your girlfriend." Katie asked.

"Nah, I mean I'll miss her and it'll be hard but she's wanted to go to Yale, it was her dream." Ryan replied.

"I'd hate it if Evan moved away to school. We're sharing an apartment on campus we're waiting to see who the third person is." Katie said, "So Seth, where is your girlfriend going?"

"Summer, she's attending the campus in San Diego." Sethr replied.

"That's not far from here." Katie said.

"No, Ryan's promised to look out for her for me." Seth said.

"My apartment is number 17B." Ryan said.

"17B?" Katie asked.

"Yeah, 17B." Ryan replied.

"That's my apartment, how ironic is that?" Katie laughed, "Evan will be happy, you two should get along."

Kirsten walked in, "Did you find out? Did it tell you the names of your roommates?"

"He's sharing an apartment with me and Evan, how weird is that?" Katie said.

"Really that's great. Evan's downstairs Katie, Ryan you should go down and meet him." Kirsten suggested.

Ryan nodded and they all went downstairs after Katie.

"Evan I figured out who our roommate will be." Katie said greeting him with a kiss.

"Really? Who?" Evan asked.

"Kirsten and Sandy's son, well almost son; Ryan. Evan this is Ryan and Ryan this is Evan." Katie said.

Ryan and his new roommates got acquianted before they had to leave.

"So will your girlfriend be visiting you here?" Evan asked.

"Yeah her father bought her two tickets to come to California so she'll definitely be visiting. I'm sure Seth will be too." Rayn replied.

"Seth, did Katie tell you our friend is attending Yale as well?" Evan asked.

"Yeah she did, maybe Marissa and I could hang out with her some time." Seth replied.

"Yeah I'll mention your names to her, maybe Ryan can give me your phone number there and I'll get her to call you or something...." Evan replied.

"Hey you guys should come visit us this summer and bring your girlfriends." Katie suggested.

"Actually we're leaving for Europe in two days." Ryan replied, "We're spending the summer there."

"Who is you and Marissa, that's so cool." Katie replied.

"Seth and Summer are coming with us too." Ryan mentioned.

"OMG that sounds like it would be so much fun, we should have thought of that Evan. We have to spend the summer here working, how boring is that." Katie laughed.

"Well I guess we'll see you in September, hopefully we'll get to Meet Marissa then too and I guess we'll meet Summer since she's going to school so close to here." Evan said.

"Yeah definitely, so have a great summer." Ryan offered before they followed Kirsten and Sandy out the door.

"So what's on the agenda now?" Seth asked.

"We figured we'd go home unless Ryan you wanted to do anything else?" sandy said.

"No, let's head home." Ryan replied.

They home around midnight. Ryan and Seth didn't see the girls the next day and they meet them at the airport before their flight.

Jimmy brought Marissa and Summer. Kirsten and Sandy brought the boys.

"I'm going to miss your boys so much." Kirsten cried.

Ryan laughed, "We'ree going to see you guys soon, you'll be in Europe before you know it."

"I know I'm just so used to have you boys around." Kirsten replied.

"Mom, we'll call everyday ok." Seth offered.

"Ok!" Kirsten said, "You should go now before I change my mind and not let you guys go. Do you have enough money, did you guys pack everything you need?"

"We're fine mom." Seth sighed.

"Ok we're going, be careful and have a good flight." Sandy said and they hugged before Sandy and Kirsten walked away.

Jimmy said his good byes to the girls and said he'd see them soon for the wedding.

After they waved again at the parents the group started making their way to the gate.

"So how was your trip the other day?" Marissa asked giving Ryan a kiss hello.

"Good, I'm staying on campus now in an apartment with the Cohen's friend's daughter, Katie, and her boyfriend, Evan." Ryan replied.

"Really that's great, at least you won't be lonely." Marissa smiled.

"Except the girls a total hottie Marissa." Seth informed.

"You have a hot roommate." Marissa said looking at Ryan.

"You have nothing to worry about and besides I'm going to be living with her and her boyfriend." Ryan said, "You don't mind do you?"

Marissa looked up at Ryan, "What if I was going to be living with a hot guy, how would you like it?"

"You will be, me." Seth said.

Ryan and Marissa laughed, "Ok a hot stranger."

"I'd probably be jealous but we've got eachother. Besides believe me having one woman is enough." Ryan laughed.

"Is that supposed to be an insult?" Marissa asked.

"All I'm saying is I couldn't handle two woman." Ryan replied.

"So how did you and this hot Katie girl get put together?" Marissa asked.

"We went to look at the apartment and it was..." Ryan started.

"Disgusting!!" Seth finished.

"So we decided to check out the dorms, there was one available with a girl and a guy so we decided to take it. When we went to visit the Cohen's friends we checked the internet for what apartment I was in and it ended up being the same on that Katie and Evan were living in." Ryan replied, "It was a complete coincident."

Marissa smiled, "I love you."

Ryan nodded, "So you don't mind."

"Of course not." Marissa replied.

The four made it the that gate and sat down.

"This flight is super long." Summer said, "Come on Coop, lets stock up on magazines, by the time we get to Europe next months magazines will probably be out."

"Ok, hey wait I brought my portable dvd player too so we can watch movies." Marissa informed passing Ryan her bag.

About 30 minutes later they loaded the plane. Seth and Ryan sat together; as did Marissa and Summer directly behind the boys.

After about 8 hours Marissa started getting sleepy, "Hey Seth."

"Yeah?" Seth replied.

"Want to switch seats?" Marissa asked.

"Sure." Seth replied and stood up to switch.

Ryan was already sleeping but woke up when Marissa sat down beside him.

"Hey!" Marissa smiled, "I wanted to sleep but wasn't comfortable so I thought I could cuddle into you."

Ryan nodded and pulled the arm rest us the was separating them and they made themselves comfortable together before falling asleep.


	51. Chapter 51

15 hours after they left Newport airport they arrived in Paris, it was 7 in the evening by the time they went through customs and got their luggage.

"So I guess we'll go check into the hotel and maybe grab some dinner?" Marissa suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Summer replied and the boys nodded in agreeance.

They caught a cab and drove to their hotel. Once inside Marissa and Ryan checked out the place while Seth checked in at home and Summer went to freshen up.

"Can you believe this? We're spending two months together in Europe and right now we're in the most romantic city in the world." Marissa said.

Ryan walked up behind Marissa who was looking out the window, "I promise you the best trip ever." Ryan wrapped his arms around Marissa's waist.

"Really?" Marissa's eyes lit up looking over at him, "Even better then our trip to the Carribbean?"

Ryan smiled remembering that trip, "I'm going to try."

Marissa smiled and softly kissed him.

Seth and Summer walked into the room, "Dad wants to talk to you Ryan."

Ryan nodded and followed Seth into Seth's bedroom.

"Can you believe we're finished highschool and now we're in Europe with our boyfriends and no parents!" Summer excitedly said.

"I know it's great isn't it!" Marissa replied smiling, "I hope this summer lasts forever."

"We can shop in all the best designer's stores, this is going to be so cool Coop!" Summer laughed, "I'm starving, I hope the boys are soon ready."

"I'm sure Kirsten and Sandy won't keep them long, I know Ryan is starving too." Marissa informed.

"Your dad and Hailey are getting married soon, are you ok with that?" Summer asked.

"Yah, I'm happy for them. My dad seems to really love her." Marissa replied.

Summer nodded, "That's great, it's good for him."

Summer gave Marissa a friendly hug, "We're going to have so much fun!"

Ryan and Seth came out, "Ready to go eat?"

"Like an hour ago!" Summer replied.

The boys smiled and they left the hotel room.

After dinner instead of taking a cab back they decided to walk realizing the restaurant was only about ten blocks away from the hotel.

"This city is gorgeous Cohen." Summer said admiring the buildings they were passing.

"I think we could spend the entire summer in Paris and not get bored." Marissa added.

"I know, there's so much stuff to see and we're only here for five days." Summer complained.

"Hey you two, you have to realize that Europe is a huge place and if you want to see it we can't stay in Paris any longer than five days." Ryan informed.

Marissa smiled, "We know, it just sucks that's all."

Once they made it back into the hotel room it was after 10. Everyone was exhausted so they retired to bed.

Everyone seemed to sleep in late, getting used to the time change was difficult and they were obviously jet lagged.

Ryan rolled over in bed to grab his watch that he left on the night stand. The sun was pouring into the bedroom and he let his eyes adjust before focusing in on the time.

"OMG it's 1." Ryan sighed and sat up immediately.

Marissa moaned beside him, "Ryan it can't be on, I'm exhausted."

Ryan gave Marissa a moment to wake up and showed her the watch, "OMG Ryan half our day is gone!"

Ryan jumped up, I'm going to go downstairs and grab something for us to eat and you can grab your shower first, OK?"

Marissa nodded and leaned over for a kiss before Ryan got up out of the bed, "Maybe you should wake Sum and Seth up before you go."

Ryan nodded and threw some clothes on before leaving their bedroom.

Summer and Seth's door was closed, Ryan knocked on it and heard both Seth and Summer moan.

"Hey guys I think you two should get up now." Ryan said loud enough for the two to hear him through the door.

Ryan waited for a response but didn't hear one. He knocked louder on the door and opened it, cautiously walked over to them making sure he didn't get an eye full of something he didn't want to see and shook Seth.

"What man, I'm sleeping." Seth said rolling over away from Ryan.

"It's 1 in the afternoon, I think you two should get up." Ryan said.

"What?" Summer said sleepishly from the other side of the bed.

"Yeah we've wasted half our day in bed, come on....Marissa's getting a shower now and I'm going to go downstairs and grab something for us to eat." Ryan said, "Now unless you want to ruin the whole day I suggest you get up out of bed."

With that Ryan left their room and wondered downstairs to grab some food. He returned 30 minutes later with some pastries that he couldn't resist and bagels. He entered the hotel room that was really quiet. He put the food down on the table and went into his room.

Marissa was sitting on the bed putting her makeup on.

"Did Seth and Summer get up?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, Seth just got out of the shower and I think Summer is just about to get in." Marissa replied.

Ryan smiled, "I got some delicious looking pastries out here."

"Great, I'm hungry. I'll just quickly throw some clothes on and join you." Marissa said.

Ryan nodded but instead of leaving he walked closer to her, "You look so sexy right now."

Marissa gave him a smile, "Only because I'm in a towel."

"Well that adds to it, but you know you're always sexy." Ryan said leaning down to kiss her.

"You know we have a few minutes, Summer usually takes a while to get ready." Marissa hinted.

"Yeah?" Ryan asked, "Should I close the door?"

Marissa nodded as she bit her bottom lip. Ryan closed their bedroom door and returned to Marissa. He leaned down and kissed her again, this time letting the kiss deepen before letting his body fall on to hers. About ten minutes later and both feeling completely satisified Ryan and Marissa fixed themselves up and went to get something to eat.

Once everyone was showered and dressed they decided to leave their hotel room and finally start their day, even if they were hours behind.

They started the day off at the Eiffel Tower taking pictures from the observation deck. After spending about an hour there they decided to take the Bateaux Mouches boat tour down the Seine river that departed at the Eiffel tour. The boat ride was a three hour tour.

"Wow that was amazing, don't you guys think?" Marissa said in AW after getting off the boat.

"It was, I love Paris!!" Summer smiled as Seth wrapped his arm around her.

"So what's next?" Ryan asked.

"Well we're in the 7th Arrondissement area, it's like the most elegant residential area's in Paris. Ryan I think you'd love it, the architecture is supposed to be amazing. Want to walk around?" Marissa informed.

"Sure, come on let's go." Ryan smiled taking Marissa's hand.


	52. Chapter 52

The gang decided to grab dinner together.

Seth was browsing through a travel guide as they ate.

"We should go to Walt Disney World here in Paris!" Seth suggested excitedly.

"We can go there in California." Marissa informed him.

"No we can't, we have Disney Land not Disney World. Summer, Ryan? You guys want to go don't you?" Seth asked with pleading eyes.

"But Seth we only have like 3 full days left in Paris." Marissa said.

"Fine party popper, Summer we can go without them. What do you say." Seth asked.

Summer wasn't sure she really wanted to go but since Seth seemed really interested in going she agreed.

"This is why I love you so much." Seth smiled and kissed her.

"Ryan do you want to go?" Marissa asked, "Cause if you do, we can go."

"No, you're right there so much more we can do then spend the day at Disney World." Ryan replied, "Do you guys mind spending the day apart?"

"We don't have to spend everyday together as a group. I'm sure some days the girls will go off together and leave us to fend for ourselves and maybe even you and Summer might want to do something that Marissa and I don't want to do." Seth said.

"OK great." Marissa smiled.

"Hey I want to go there." Summer said pointing out the window at a club across the street.

"Yah, we all should go tonight." Marissa agreed.

"You guys go, I just want to relax." Ryan said, "Besides that's not really my thing."

"You girls go. I'll stay with Ryan." Seth offered.

"Hey man do you actually think it's a good idea if they go alone. I mean we don't know this place very well and we don't know what that club is like." Ryan said to Seth.

"Your right, I'll go to then." Seth said.

"Well I'll stay in with Ryan, you two go." Marissa offered.

"Hey no, you go too. Have fun, Paris is your dream city. Go experience it." Ryan said lightly placing his hand on Marissa's leg.

Marissa looked at him for reassurance, "I'd love for you to come to but I'm not going to make you do something you don't want but I promise we won't be late."

Ryan nodded and leaned over to kiss her.

Five minutes later Ryan got into a cab and the three others walked over to the club.

It was a small pub-like place playing hip new music. Seth went to the bar to order himself a drink, the girls didn't want anything and instead went out to dance. Guys were surrounding them until Seth joined them. Guys were then hitting on Marissa like crazy. She was obviously flattered but felt weird about it. Eventually she let Summer and Seth know she was going home and she grabbed a cab back to the hotel.

She quietly entered the hotel room just in case Ryan was sleeping. She washed her face and brushed her teeth before heading to the bedroom. She walked in and Ryan quickly turned his head towards her and then quickly turned the channel of the tv.

Marissa didn't know whether to laugh or get angry. Ryan's face immediately started turning red.

"Umm Ryan what were you just watching?" Marissa asked.

Ryan didn't know what to say, he was sure Marissa had seen what he was watching but still hoped there was a chance that she didn't.

"Ryan?" Marissa said.

"I didn't expect you to be back so soon." Was all Ryan could say.

"I wasn't enjoying myself all that much but you never answered my question." Marissa replied.

"Nothing interesting." Ryan mumbled.

Marissa nodded and reached for the remote and pressed recall and Ryan looked away, "RYAN!"

Marissa couldn't hold in her laughter, "Why are you watching a pornography, do you normally watch them?" She stopped her laughing and was serious now.

"No, I don't. I don't know why I was watching it, I was going through the channels and it was on and no on was here so I left it on." Ryan said not meeting her glance.

Marissa sat down close to him, "Can I ask you a question?"

Ryan's eyes met hers letting her know she could ask him anything.

"Are you lacking something that you may need? Are you cmpletely 100 satisified sexually?" Marissa asked.

Ryan smiled at her and slightly laughed.

"What?" Marissa asked slightly defensive.

"You're not serious!" Ryan continued to laugh.

"I'm completely serious Ryan, probably as serious as I'm ever going to get." Marissa said.

"Really?" Ryan continued to laugh.

"Yes! Now can you please stop laughing at me." Marissa asked.

Ryan took her hands, "There's nothing wrong with our sex life!"

"Then why are you watching that. Only guys who aren't satisified watch those kinds of things." Marissa said softly, "I want you to be happy."

"I am happy and I am satisified." Ryan replied.

"Well obviously there's something that you're not getting that you need." Marissa added, "Maybe it's because I don't have the experience that you are used to."

Ryan was in shock, he just smiled at her which drove her more crazy.

Marissa turned and looked at the tv, "When we have sex it's definitly not like that!"

"Marissa!" Ryan said tugging at her hands for her to look at him.

"Do you want sex like that?" Marissa asked with a confused look on her face, "Because I'm not sure I can do what ever it is she's doing."

Ryan laughed again, "Marissa listen to me."

Marissa turned and looked at him.

"Normal people don't have sex like that, only they have sex like that." Ryan smiled and leaned in to kiss her.

"But how are we going to fix this problem?" Marissa asked pressing her forhead against his.

"There is no problem Marissa, I love you and I love having sex with you. I don't want anything to change." Ryan informed, "Besides I wouldn't want you to act like those girls."

Marissa looked over at the tv and laughed, "Good cause I don't want to act like them."

Marissa turned towards the tv again for some reason she couldn't not watch it. Ryan pulled her into him and they sat there watching the TV together.

"Oh my god." Marissa said to herself.

Ryan couldn't help but get a little in the mood for some foreplay himself. His hands slowly started exploring her body and his lips started brushing over her neck. However, Marissa seemed like she didn't even notice and continued watching the tv.

"Hey why don't we turn that off?" Ryan whispered into her ear as he softly kissed her lobe.

Marissa didn't respond.

"Hey?" Ryan whispered again, this time making it more obvious with his kisses.

"Huh?" Marissa moaned looking over at him.

Ryan pulled his face away from hers, "You're into that aren't you?"

"No!" Marissa quickly defended, "It's just so unbelievable, do you see what he's doing to her....if you ever did that to me again I would never let you touch me again."

Ryan laughed, "How about we turn that off and have some fun of our own?"

Ryan had that look in his eyes, the look that told her he wanted her so much. She loved when he looked at her like that. Marissa pushed the power button on the remote and repositioned herself so she was facing Ryan.

"I thought you were tired tonight?" Marissa said.

"I was." Ryan replied.

"But you still want to make love?" Marissa smiled.

Ryan nodded, his smile continued to grow on his face. "I love you Marissa."

Marissa smiled back at him, "Are you sucking up Mr. Atwood?"

"You are so beautiful!" Ryan moaned wrapping his arms around her neck leaning in for a kiss.

"Luckily your good with the words." Marissa teased.

"Hey you can't get enough of me either, if I hadn't come on to you first tonight you would have been all over me." Ryan smiled letting himself fall back onto the bed taking Marissa with him.

"No way!" Marissa laughed.

"Yeah right Cooper, you're looking at me with your sex eyes!" Ryan laughed.

"I don't have sex eyes..you're the one with the sex eyes." Marissa replied kissing his neck just behind his ear.

"Well you definitely have sex eyes, I can always tell when you want it." Ryan replied pulling her shirt up to feel her body.

"Well you definitely have them cause I love when you look at me with them." Marissa said looking into his eyes, "I always feel so wanted when you look at me with them."

Ryan pulled her into him and kissed her, "Never doubt how much I want you!"


	53. Chapter 53

Ryan and Marissa were laying in bed together after having sex. Ryan was softly running his hand up and down her naked back.

"How could you have even though our sex life was lacking something when we have sex like that." Ryan moaned trying to savour everything that went through his body only moments earlier.

"I never said our sex life was lacking something. I said you might be lacking something, I'm always satisified after." Marissa corrected.

"Have I convinced you I'm completely satisified with everything?" Ryan asked.

"Did you hear that?" Marissa asked.

"Hear what?" Ryan replied.

"I think someone is knocking on the door." Marissa said sitting up.

Ryan listened and nodded yeah, "Want me to go get that?"

"No I'll go." Marissa smiled and leaned down and kissed him before reaching for her robe.

Marissa went to answer the door.

"Why didn't you two use your key?" Marissa asked seeing Summer and Seth on the other side.

"We tried, the key must be broken." Seth mumbled.

"No Coop, I think Cohen is just to drunk to open the door properly." Summer laughed.

"You tried to Summer, she couldn't do it either." Seth defended.

Marissa laughed and put her hand out, "Give me the key."

Seth searched his pockets, "I don't have it."

"What do you mean you don't have it, you had it like two seconds ago." Summer said.

"No you have it Summer, look its in your hand." Seth said pointing at her.

Summer looked down at the thing in her hand and laughed, "Right!"

Seth walked up and wrapped his arm around Summer while Ryan came out of the bedroom.

"Chino!" Summer said.

"Ryan!" Seth yelled.

"I guess you two are feeling pretty good tonight!" Ryan laughed.

Seth looked at Ryan who was wearing only his boxers and over at Marissa who was in her robe, "Summer I think we might have interrupted something."

Summer looked at Ryan and Marissa, "Sorry Coop and Chino I guess our timing was a little bad wasn't it?"

Marissa looked over at Ryan, "We weren't doing anything Sum."

"Right and why else would you answer the door in your robe and why else would Ryan come out in only his boxers?" Seth asked.

"Because we were about to go to sleep." Ryan replied.

"Yeah and Summer and I are going to sleep when we get into our room." Seth laughed.

Summer looked over at him, "I don't know what your plans are Cohen but I'm sleeping when I hit the bedroom."

Seth looked around at everyone, "Hey honey Ryan got some tonight it's only fair that I do to."

Summer slapped him, "If Chino jumped off a bridge would you?"

"If I was going to have sex afterwards, yes." Seth laughed.

"EWW!" Summer shrieked and walked into the bedroom shutting the door behind her.

"Well good night you two!" Seth said and left for the bedroom as well.

Ryan woke up around 8, Marissa was still sound asleep beside him. He got up and left the room; as he walked out a smile crept upon his face remembering the previous night, he just couldn't believe how serious and worried Marissa had gotten over the porn thing.

He quickly grabbed a shower and brushed his teeth before picking up the phone and ordering room service for everyone; however, he specifically asked for two separate carts so marissa could have breakfast in bed as well as Seth and Summer.

About an hour later the breakfast arrived. Ryan thanked the deliverer and tipped him. He knocked on Seth and Summer's door and walked in waking Seth as he entered the room.

"Hey man, I thought you and Summer may want some breakfast." Ryan informed showing him the cart.

Seth looked at it and nodded, "Great. Thanks!"

"No problem." Ryan replied and left. He made his way into his room. He put the cart at the end of the bed and walked over and sat next to marissa.

"Marissa? Wake up Marissa." Ryan whispered as he brushed her hair from her face.

Marissa stirred but didn't wake up, he leaned down and kissed her. Marissa now woke up and deepened the kiss pulling his body down to hers. Once the kiss ended, Ryan looked down at her surprised.

"Good Morning!" He sighed.

"Good Morning!" Marissa yawned, "What's that smell?"

"Breakfast," Ryan replied, "In bed!"

Marissa smiled, "Really?"

Ryan got up and got one tray and laid it over Marissa's lap after she sat up. Ryan joined her in bed with his breakfast.

"This is so great, thanks Ryan." Marissa smiled, "Seth and Summer would totally have enjoyed this!"

"I ordered them breakfast too, they already have theirs." Ryan informed.

"That was thoughtful of you." She said.

Once they were finished eating Ryan leaned over and kissed her again, slowly letting himself on Marissa. Their kissing turned into a full blown make-out session which in turn turned into them having sex.

"Ryan?" Marissa said.

"Yah?" Ryan replied.

"We've made love three times in less than 24 house." Marissa stated.

Ryan smiled, "We can make that four or five times!"

"We never have sex that much, we normally have it maybe once or twice a week. We weren't even like this when we went to the Carribbean." Marissa said, "Why are we doing it so much?"

"Cause we want to, at least I know I've been thinking of you so much lately. It's like I'm more turned on by you now more than ever, which I didn't think would be possible." Ryan confessed.

Marissa smiled, "Really?"

"Really!" Ryan confirmed.

Marissa got up, "I'm going to get a shower......do you want to join me?"

Ryan smiled, "Thought you'd never ask."

Their shower lasted almost an hour, once they came out of the bathroom Summer was waiting.

"I was wondering why the occupant of the bathroom was taking so long," Summer said, "Now I know. Chino there better not be anything nasty left in the tub!"

Summer pushed past them and closed the door behind her. Marissa and Ryan couldn't help but laugh at her and made their way back to their room.

Ryan and Marissa got ready for their day around Paris. It was already 11 by the time they were done.

Seth and Summer were ready around the same time as Marissa and Ryan.

"So you guys are off to Disney World huh?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah, are you sure you two don't want to come. It should be fun!" Summer said.

"No I think Ryan and I will have some fun of our own. I still can't believe you two want to spend an entire day at Disney World when we're in Paris, but to each their own right!" Marissa said.

"Come on Cohen!" Summer said, "Coop, Chino...you guys have fun!"

Ryan and Marissa left not long after aswell. They spent the day visiting art gallaries and museums. They ate dinner at this quiet restaurant.


	54. Chapter 54

Their days in Paris had come and gone and they spent some time in London before making their way to spain. They were staying on the coast, right on the ocean.

"I hear there's a lot of nude beaches here!" Seth said.

"So, what's the point Cohen?" Summer asked.

"I think I'd like to check them out!" Seth replied.

"Why? Do you need to be gwaking at everyone trying to relax on the beach, you know people don't like to be stared at!" Summer said.

"Nah that's not why, I want to go naked!" Seth laughed.

Ryan looked up at him, so did Marissa....both trying to hold in their laughter.

"Cohen, nobody wants to see that!" Summer laughed.

"Hey you love my body!" Seth said.

"Yeah your hot buff body!" Summer teased, "Besides your from California and your almost as white as a ghost, what's up with that Cohen?"

Seth looked down, "Ok maybe not such a good idea."

Summer looked over at him feeling a little mad at herself for making fun at Seth...he did look sad, "I love your body baby!"

Summer kissed his neck, "I wouldn't be with you if I didn't love every part of you!"

They were in a cab driving towards their rented condo, as they were approaching the coast everyone's eyes couldn't leave the scenery, it was unbelievably beautiful.

"WOW!" Marissa said in amazement.

The cab driver pulled up to what looked like a beach house, a masion like beach house.

"Is this where we're staying?" Summer asked the cabbie.

"Yes, this is the place on the directions you gave me." He replied.

"Holly Cow! Thank you mom and dad!" Seth said crawling out of the car, followed by Marissa. Ryan popped out of the front seat.

"Ryan isn't this great!" Marissa said throwing herself into Ryan's arms.

"Yeah!" Ryan said still amazed.

Ryan paid the cabbied while Seth pulled the luggage out of the trunk. Ryan made his way to help Seth.

"You girls go unlock the door and check the place out....Seth and I will get the luggage!" Ryan suggested and helped Seth pull the many bags from the trunk before the cabbie drove off.

After two trips in and out the boys had the luggage brought into the house.

"Cohen I found the room we should stay in, come check it out!" Summer called out from somewhere upstairs.

Ryan helped Seth with the luggage that needed to be brought to Seth and Summer's room.

Seth walked into a huge bedroom....there was a huge window facing the ocean with a balcony. The bed looked as if it was 10 times larger than a king sized bed. Summer opened the doors to the balcony. It was a beautiful room. The room had its own washroom, with a jacuzzi tub and a stand-up shower.

"This room's great guys!" Ryan said admiring the room. Marissa came into the room.

"There's like five bedroom's here!" Marissa informed everyone, "And they are pretty much as big as this one!"

"Did you pick one for us?" Ryan asked turning his attention to Marissa.

"Yes, let's go downstairs grab our bags and I'll show you the room I picked for us!" Marissa said kissing him.

"Come on!" Ryan smiled and lead Marissa down to get their bags.

Ryan grabbed almost all the bags, leaving Marissa only two small bags.

"Ryan I can take more then these two!" Marissa said trying to take a bag from Ryan.

"No, why should you have to bring them upstairs?" Ryan replied.

"Because most of them are mine!" Marissa protested.

"Sorry nope, come on show me our room!" Ryan said starting up the stairs.

Marissa smiled and followed him. Before they made it up the large stair case, Ryan slipped and fell backwards.

"RYAN!" Marissa called out dropping her bags, "OMG RYAN!"

Marissa ran down to Ryan, he fell to the bottom of the stairs.

Seth and Summer had heard Marissa's scream and ran to her to see what the problem was. Once the got to the top of the stairs they saw Ryan lying at the bottom.

"Ryan!" Seth yelled as he started quickly down the stairs.

"OMG Chino! What happened Coop?" Summer asked following Seth down the stairs.

"Ryan was carrying way to many bags up the stairs and when we were almost at the top he tripped and fell down." Marissa replied crying.

Ryan was unconcious, "What should we do, who do we call?" Marissa cried out to her two friends.

Summer looked around and noticed a phone in the other room, "I'll see if I can find someone to call, there should be a number near the phone in case of emergancies!"

"Ryan, can you hear me?" Marissa pleaded with him, "Oh god Ryan, please be ok!"

Ryan didn't move, "Should we move him?" Marissa asked.

"No just incase he broke something, oh god I wish I knew what to do." Seth said sitting next to Marissa.

Summer was on the phone with paramedics, "He fell down the stairs, he's lying on the floor unconcious!"

Within five minutes the paramedics had arrived and began helping Ryan. One paramedic used smelling salts to wake Ryan up, luckily it worked and he began regaining concioucness(spelling?).

"Ryan!" Marissa called out running over to him.

One of the paramedics stopped her, "Sorry we still need to check him out, he may have internal injuries."

Marissa nodded, more tears pouring out of her eyes. Summer came up to her and wrapped her arms around her, "He's going to be ok Coop!"

"It's all my fault, I let him carry all those bags, I knew he shouldn't." Marissa sobbed.

"Come on honey its not your fault, don't blame yourself....Ryan wouldn't want you to." Summer whispered.

One paramedic approached the girls, "We think he's going to be ok but he's going to need some rest and he needs to stay in bed for a few days cause he's going to be very sore!"

Marissa nodded, "I'll make sure he doesn't do anything!"

"Good, now where is his bedroom so we can bring him to his room." The paramedic asked.

"I'll show you." Marissa sighed and led the paramedics up to the bedroom that Marissa picked out for her and Ryan...the room Ryan hadn't seen yet.

The paramedics brought Ryan up to the room and gave Marissa instructions before leaving.

Marissa looked over at Ryan and went and sat down next to him.

"Sorry!" Ryan smiled at her.

"Sorry? For what?" Marissa asked, "I should be the one apologising to you."

Ryan took her hand, "I'm sorry for ruining today. And what do you have to apologise for, what did you do?"

"If I hadn't let you take all those bags you wouldn't have fallen!" Marissa replied.

"You asked me to give you some of the bags and I wouldn't even consider it.....it's not your fault." Ryan said, "Come here!"

Marissa moved closer to him and he kissed her. Once the pulled away Marissa smiled at him.

"I love you!" Marissa sighed.

"I love you too!" Ryan replied and looked over at the window, which Marissa noticed.

She got up and pulled the window coverings away from the window and opening the doors letting the breeze into the room so Ryan could look out at the ocean, "Isn't it beautiful!"

Ryan nodded, "What time is it?"

"It's 7, are you hungry?" Marissa asked.

"A little." Ryan replied.

"How about I go get Seth or Summer and go grab something to eat somewhere?" Marissa asked.

"Do you mind?" Ryan asked.

"Of course not!" Marissa said getting close enough to kiss him, "I'll be back soon ok!"

Summer and Marissa decided they would handle getting dinner...they called a cab and got it to drop them off at a market so they could pick up enough food to last them while they were in Spain. They picked up the ingredients they needed to cook dinner and got another cab to drive them back to the beach house.

Seth went in with Ryan, "Hey man you gave up a bit of a scare for a while."

Ryan laughed, "Yeah I guess I did!"

"How are you now? You ok?" Seth asked.

"I'm good, sore but good!" Ryan replied.

"What do you want to do?" Seth asked.

"There's not much we can do." Ryan replied thinking, "Do you have cards?"

Seth thought for a moment, "Nope!"

Ryan nodded, he didn't really think Seth would have a pack of cards on him.

"I brought our game boys, we could play them....what do you think?" Seth asked.

"Great, we've been gone for almost two weeks and you didn't tell me you brought them?" Ryan asked.

"Well we didn't really need them until now, it's not like we really had any time to be bored." Seth said.

Ryan nodded, they had been pretty busy. Seth left the room to get the games and returned a few minutes later. Seth passed Ryan a game boy and threw the games he brought with them on the bed.

"You actually brought every game we own?" Ryan laughed.

"Hey I needed to come prepared, and right now aren't you glade I did. Cause I'm sure with you having to be in bed for days you're not going to want to play the same game over and over." Seth said.

Ryan nodded, "Yeah thanks!"

Seth crawled up and sat beside Ryan against the head board and the boys started playing.

About an hour and a bit later Summer entered the room, "Seth come on lets eat, Marissa is bringing Ryan's up here for him."

"Why can't I eat up here with Ryan?" Seth asked.

"You're not the one that has to be stuck in bed for days, comeon!" Summer demanded.

"This isn't fair." Seth said tossing his game onto the bed before getting off it.

"Way to act like a three year old Cohen!" Summer said and walked out.

Ryan laughed at them as they left the room.

"Ryan I'll be back!" Seth called out before getting out of hearing distance.

Ryan continued playing until Marissa came into the room with his dinner.

"You must be starving now!" Marissa said laying the tray on Ryan's lap.

"Yah, where's yours?" Ryan asked.

"Downstairs." Marissa replied.

"Oh." Ryan said.

"Why?" Marissa asked.

"I thought you would join me up here." Ryan replied.

Marissa smiled, "I'll go get mine."

"Thanks." Ryan said, "Did you make this soup? What kind is it?"

"Summer and I made it, it's chicken soup. We didn't have a whole lot of time to make it, but hopefully it taste good." Marissa replied, "I made sure we bought all your favourite veggies!"

Ryan nodded, "It smells delicious! Now go get yours before it gets cold."

Marissa nodded and left to get her dinner.

"Where are you going Marissa?" Seth asked seeing that she picked up her bowl to leave the room.

"I'm going to go eat with Ryan." Marissa replied.

"That's not fair, I wanted to eat with Ryan." seth whinned.

"Cohen, you don't want to eat with me?" Summer said.

"No, I do." Seth said and stopped his whinning.

"You can eat with him tomorrow ok Seth?" Marissa said.

"Cool." Seth replied and smiled to himself. Summer smiled as well.

Marissa went back up to Ryan and got into bed beside him.

"How is it?" Marissa asked.

"It's delicious." Ryan replied.

"How are you feeling....do you need any pain killers....the paramedics left some for you in case the pain was too much." Marissa said.

"I'm ok for now, I think they gave me some before they left." Ryan replied.

"OK." Marissa smiled and they finished their dinner.

Once they finished Marissa remembered Ryan's family, "Hey do you want me to call the Cohen's and let them know what happened?"

"No, I'm ok you'll just worry them for no reason." Ryan replied, "I'd rather you stay here in bed with me."

"They'd like to know Ryan!" Marissa said.

"I know but it's not a big deal." Ryan said pulling her over to him, "Why don't you go lock out door."

Marissa looked up at him and smiled, "Ryan! We shouldn't!"

"We can try!" Ryan laughed.


	55. Chapter 55

Ryan had been in bed for three days. Bruises appeared on his sides, legs and back. After the first day the pain really hit him. He had gotten up the night he fell, he had thought he was fine but once he woke up the next morning he couldn't move.

"Maybe a nice soak in the jacuzzi would be good for you Ryan." Marissa suggested.

"I don't do baths." Ryan replied.

Marissa laughed, "OK tough guy but you haven't had a shower since your fall and I understand that you're in pain but I'm not going to bed with you tonight until you bathe."

Ryan looked up at her with sad eyes but to Marissa's surprise he said, "Marissa I don't smell!"

Marissa smiled, "But still we're not sharing a bed until, you would you like me to get the jaccuzi ready for you?" Marissa asked.

Ryan thought for a few seconds and a smile appeared on his face, "Will you give me a sponge bath?"

"And you're supposed to be a tough guy!" She teased, "I'll go get it ready, would you like bubbles in your bath?"

Ryan smiled.

A couple of days later, the day before they were leaving Ryan was starting to feel better. His bruises were still there, Marissa figured they'd take another week or so to go away.

Marissa's father and Haily were meeting them in Italy in three days.

The group was on the train going to Venice.

"I'm not sure if you and i should share a room while my dad's with us." Marissa said.

"You don't think he suspects that we've been sleeping together for the last few weeks?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know, maybe. But I think he might have a problem with us sharing a bed while he's here. I think we shouldn't just to respect him. I'll talk to Summer and Seth and hopefully they'll understand and you'll share a room with Seth and me with Summer." Marissa said.

"Ok but one problem, I'm not sleeping with Seth in the same bed." Ryan replied.

"What if the rooms have only one bed and there's only three bedrooms Ryan." Marissa said.

"Then...I'll sleep on the couch." Ryan said. Marissa just shrugged at his stubburnness.

Hailey and Jimmy arrived in Venice two days later.

"Marissa?" Jimmy called out, "Ryan, Seth Summer?"

"Daddy!" Marissa yelled coming in through the patio door where everyone was out by the pool.

"Hey kiddo!" Jimmy said giving his daughter a hug, "You look great, how's the trip?"

"Amazing, we're having such a great time!" Marissa answered, "Hey Hailey!"

Hailey gave Marissa a hug just as Ryan came in, "Jimmy! Hailey hey!"

"Ryan hi!" Jimmy and Hailey said. Jimmy shook Ryan's hand and Hailey gave Ryan a hug.

"Ryan what happened to you?" Hailey asked looking at Ryan's bruises.

"Oh I fell down a flight of stairs in Spain." Ryan replied, "I'm fine though.

"He couldn't move for days, he spent just about all our time in Spain in bed." Marissa said, "He tried to take all our luggage at one time up to the bedroom, our bedrooms, but he tripped cause he was carrying too much."

"Oh sorry to hear that, thank god you didn't hurt yourself all that bad." Jimmy said.

"Yeah, luckily I had your daughter there to help take care of me. She brought my meals to me, she got me whatever I needed, she was great!"

Marissa smiled at Ryan, "So why don't Ryan and I show you two your room and then the rest of the place."

Jimmy and Hailey followed Ryan and Marissa up to the bedroom.

"We gave you two the best room in the house, they are all great but this one is the most beautiful." Marissa said opening the door.

"OMG!" Hailey admired, "Wow!"

"Isn't it gorgeous!" Marissa replied.

"It's great, so let's see the rest of the joint!" Jimmy said throwing his bags onto the bed.

Marissa showed them her and Summer's room, "This is where Summer and I are staying."

"This is cute, it's smaller but just as wonderful!" Hailey replied.

"I love it, I want to stay here forever!" Marissa smiled.

They walked across the hall and opened the door, "This is where the boys are staying, obviously they don't like to make beds!" Marissa teased and Ryan looked up at her.

"What's the since, actually that's Seth's fault....I slept on the couch!" Ryan replied.

"We actually figured you and Ryan would be sharing a room." Jimmy said quietly, "But I feel so much better now knowing you weren't."

Marissa nodded and smiled at Ryan, "So what do you guys want to do, we figured we could go out for dinner together later."

"That sounds good, but I want a nap now. Hailey you want to join me?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah I need some zzz's, we'll be ready around 7 for dinner?" Hailey asked.

"Sounds good, glade you guys are here." Marissa said giving them a hug again before they went into their room and shut the door.

Marissa turned towards Ryan and smiled at him. He pulled her into him, "I'm going to miss you tonight!"

Marissa buried her head into his neck and shoulder, "I'm sort of tired too, do you want to go lay down?"

Ryan nodded.

Marissa woke up a couple hours later at around 4:30. She looked over at Ryan who was still sound asleep cuddled up next to her. She gentally got out of bed to go grab a shower. When she got into the bathroom she decided to take a bath instead since she had lots of time before dinner.

Once she was out and dressed she sat down on the bed to wake Ryan up.

Once Ryan woke up he pulled Marissa ontop of him, "How long have you been awake?" Ryan asked noticing her wet hair

"About 45 minutes, I woke up around 4:30." Marissa smiled as Ryan kissed her forhead, "How was your nap?"

"Good!" Ryan replied before meeting his lips with Marissa's until there was a tap on the door.

Still smiling Marissa looked over at the door that was already open.

"Uh, hey daddy how was your nap?" Marissa asked sitting up from Ryan.

"Very nice, Hailey and I are just going to go for a walk, we'll be back in enough time to go to dinner." Jimmy said.

"OK we'll be here." Marissa said and Jimmy walked away from the door.

"I know your dad likes me but the looks he gives me when he catches us to compromising situations makes me think he wants me dead." Ryan laughed.

"Don't worry about it Ryan, in a couple of days he won't be noticing much of anything because he'll be on cloud nine after marrying Hailey." Marissa said.

"Are they still planning to spend a week by themselves before Kirsten and Sandy come?" Ryan asked.

"As far as I know they are." Marissa replied.

"Good cause then we'll have one more week together." Ryan smiled sitting up and giving her a short but sweet kiss.

"Yeah and then before long we won't even be able to see eachother, we're going to be on totally different sides of the USA." Marissa sighed.

"Marissa, we don't leave to go back for almost another six weeks, its not time to think about that yet." Ryan said.

"I know but its going to be hard." Marissa replied.

"I know but we'll make it work." Ryan informed.


	56. Chapter 56

The next few days went by and Jimmy and Hailey were finally married. Seth, Summer, Marissa, Ryan, Jimmy and Hailey had dinner at a beautiful Italian restaurant and after dinner each couple took a ride down the canals (I'm not quite sure if they call them canals or rivers or if they call the waterways by another name).

Ryan had his arms wrapped up around Marissa as they floated along the city, watching as they passed beautiful buildings and sceneries.

"This is so peaceful Ryan, it's like the perfect night!" Marissa said looking up at Ryan. The moon was shining down on them and when the moon hit Marissa's face as she stared up at him it took his breath away.

"Can I tell you something?" Ryan asked.

Marissa was about to sit up to let Ryan talk, "No stay like this, I like this. As long as your comfortable."

Marissa smiled, "I am."

"Good." Ryan whispered.

Marissa looked away and back up at Ryan who was still looking at her, "Are you ok Ryan?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He replied softly.

"You seem a little nervous." Marissa replied.

Ryan leaned over and kissed her check and smiled at her.

"You wanted to tell me something?" Marissa reminded.

"I was sitting here with you in my arms, knowing there was no other place I wanted to be and realizing how much us means to me, cause it means everything to me." Ryan started.

Marissa smiled, "Us means everything to me too!"

"I was just wishing I had just something else with me right now though." He softly said letting his thumb caress her arm.

"What would that be?" Marissa asked.

Ryan hesitated with that question, he knew exactly what he would have but telling Marissa was another thing.

"Ryan, what else would you want right now?" Marissa asked confussed.

"A ring." Ryan said softly and slowly.

Marissa was confused, "A ring, why?"

A second later her eyes popped open and she immediately sat up.

Ryan studied her he wished he hadn't said anything but it was too late to stop, "If I had a ring with me I would have proposed to you tonight."

Marissa couldn't believe what Ryan had just said, "You would have?"

Ryan nodded.

"Is that something you have been thinking about or is it just something that popped into your head tonight?" Marissa asked, she was getting excited.

"Honestly?" Ryan asked.

"Yes honestly!" Marissa replied.

"Actually I wanted to do it this summer sometime before we left but I wanted to wait until the perfect moment and I think I just missed the perfect time." Ryan said.

"OMG Ryan!" Marissa said and without thinking she through herself at Ryan and kissed him.

After a minute or so Ryan pulled away, "If I had it on me tonight and asked you to marry me what would you have said?"

Marissa looked down and then into his eyes, "I wouldn't have said no."

Ryan smiled, "Would you have said yes?"

"Of course I would have Ryan!" Marissa laughed, "Look at me I'm getting all happy and acting like you really did ask me to marry you tonight."

Ryan smiled.

"Do you have a ring?" Marissa asked with a curious look on her face.

"Why do you want to know?" Ryan replied.

"I'm just curious." Marissa stated.

"Actually I do." Ryan replied.

"Really? When did you buy it?" Marissa asked.

"Boy aren't you full of questions!" Ryan laughed.

"When?" Marissa asked again.

"The day after your dad came, he actually helped me pick it out." Ryan replied.

"My dad knows?" Marissa said surprised.

"I asked for his permission." Ryan said a little embarrassed.

"You DID!" Marissa said.

"Yeah and he gave me his permission." Ryan smiled.

Marissa wrapped her arms around Ryan, "I can't wait till you ask me!"

"I just wish I didn't ruin this night by not brining it with me." Ryan said.

Marissa thought for a second, "Do you really need the ring to ask me?"

"It would be nice." Ryan replied not catching on that she wanted him to ask her regardless if he had the ring or not.

"It would be but its not necessarily required." Marissa hinted.

Ryan looked off into the water realizing that he should just propose to her and give her the ring when the returned hom. Marissa sat quietly beside him. Instead of anyone talking they sat in silence for the longest while until Ryan kneeled down in front of her in the boat.

"I can't wait anylonger. Marissa I love you and I can't picture my life without you in it. I don't want to picture my life without you in it. I want to spend every important minute with you, I want to be in your life for every happy moment for every sad moment and I want you to be there for me just the same. Marissa Cooper will you marry me?" Ryan asked looking into her eyes.

Marissa's eyes filled up with tears, "YES Ryan, of course I will marry you!"

Ryan immediately jumped up and kissed her.

When they arrived back to the condo they had rented Ryan asked Marissa to meet him out by the pool. Seth went immediately to bed, Hailey and Jimmy had gone for their week honeymoon and Summer entered Marissa's bedroom to grab some stuff since she would sharing a room with Seth now that the parents were gone.

"Where's Chino?" Summer asked.

"Outside, by the pool." Marissa replied.

"Why, did you two get into a fight?" Summer asked until she looked up and saw Marissa's face, "Coop you're glowing. OMG are you pregnant?"

Marissa laughed, "No Sum I'm not pregnant!"

"OK spill it Cooper!" Summer said knowing Marissa had some news she was dying to tell.

"Ryan proposed to me tonight!" Marissa informed Summer.

"Really!" Summer said happily, "Let me see the ring!"

"Actually he hasn't given me one yet." Marissa replied.

"Eww!" Summer said, "Ryan proposed to you without having a ring. I'm going to kick his a$$!"

"No wait Sum, he has one. I'll give you the details tomorrow I have to go out and meet Ryan." Marissa said.

"You better, I'm dying to know!" Summer said giving Marissa a hug, "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks Sum." Marissa smiled and headed down to Ryan.

Marissa walked out to Ryan who was sitting on the edge of the pool.

"Hey!" Marissa said as she approached him.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Ryan asked.

"Summer." Marissa replied.

"Did you tell her?" Ryan asked.

"I told her you proposed and she asked to see the ring, when I told her you didn't have it on you when you proposed she said she was going to kick your a$$." Marissa laughed, "I hope you don't mind that I told her."

"No we can tell the whole world." Ryan smiled and gave Marissa a kiss when she sat down next to him.

"I wanted it to be perfect and I ruined it, I'm sorry." Ryan said softly.

"It was perfect, why do you think you ruined it." Marissa asked.

"Because I told you want I wanted to do, I forgot to bring the ring with me and I ended up proposing to you without it." Ryan said.

"Ryan it was perfect, really the ring didn't matter." Marissa said.

"Marissa you know how much I love you and I want to make all your dreams come true some day." Ryan informed.

"Well Ryan Atwood there are only two dreams I have left that need to be fulfilled." Marissa smiled.

"And what's that?" Ryan asked.

"To become your wife and have your child." Marissa whispered.

Ryan smiled and reached into his pocket and held a small box in his hand. Marissa smiled at him. He took her hand and they stood up. Ryan got down on one knee and looked up at Marissa.

He took the ring out of the box and held her hand, "Marissa Cooper will you marry me?"

Marissa smiled, "Of course Ryan Atwood!"

Ryan slipped the ring onto her finger and stood up to kiss her.

Marissa looked down at the ring, it was a beautiful square cut diamond with three small diamonds in the white gold band on each side of the diamond.

"Ryan this ring is beautiful, I know I shouldn't ask this but how can you afford this?" Marissa asked.

"Don't worry about it, I paid for it and it's all paid off." Ryan whispered, "You deserve the best and I was determined to get you the bed."

Marissa kissed him again, "I can't believe we're engaged, I guess that means ho extra fun while I'm at school huh?" Marissa teased.

"Funny!" Ryan laughed, he picked her up and brought her over to the pool.

"Ryan!" Marissa screamed, "Don't you dare!"

Ryan didn't listen and he threw her into the pool. When she came to the surface she screamed, "You're in for it now!"

She jumped out of the pool and chased Ryan around the pool, eventually she caught him and he pulled her into his arms to kiss her. While they were kissing Marissa shoved Ryan into the pool, Ryan taking her in with him.


	57. Chapter 57

The next morning Marissa and Ryan were sound asleep snuggled together when Seth and Summer barged in.

"You both better be decent or at least covered up." Summer said entering with her eyes shut.

"Sum, it's like 8 in the morning!" Marissa moaned throwing the blankets over her head.

Summer and Seth opened their eyes and jumped onto the bed waking Ryan up.

"What the $#!" He moaned looking up at Seth and Summer, "What do you guys think you're doing?"

"Summer told me what you did last night man, congratulations!" Seth said nudging Ryan.

"Yeah did she, why don't you go away and we can talk about it later on, maybe in a few hours!" Ryan said throwing the pillow at Seth.

"No way Chino, I heard you didn't give her a ring, I'm going to have to kick your a$$." Summer said slapping his arm.

"Hey!" Ryan said and threw another pillow, this time at Summer.

Marissa laughed and sat up, "I guess we're not getting back to sleep anytime soon Ryan."

Ryan sat up as well groaning as he did so.

"Actually Sum, Ryan did give me a ring." Marissa said as her eyes lit up remembering everything from the previous night.

"Really, let me see!" Summer said, "Let me see!"

Marissa held out her hand and showed Summer the ring.

"Wow Chino, who picked this out for you cause whoever it was has awesome taste!" Summer said admiring the ring.

Marissa smiled, "Actually Ryan and my dad picked it out, isn't that so sweet!"

"Your dad knew about this?" Summer said, "Cohen did you know about this and did not tell me?"

"Seth didn't know anything about it, if I had told him, he would have told you and you would have told Marissa." Ryan said.

"True!" Summer replied.

"He asked for my dad's permission." Marissa smiled, "It was the perfect night Sum!"

"Coop come on, I want details!" Summer said getting herself comfortable on the bed.

"I'll let you two have girl talk, I need a coffee!" Ryan said pulling the blankets off him. He leaned over and gave Marissa a kiss, "Good morning!"

Marissa smiled and watched Ryan and Seth leave the room, closing the door behind them.

Marissa sighed a happy sigh and fell back onto the mattress.

"Comeon Coop your killing me here!" Summer said.

"We were on the boat ride last night he was holding me really close and he told me he wanted to tell me something, so when I started to sit up he told me he wanted to continue cuddling into him. I could tell he was nervous about something I just didn't know what it was." Marissa started.

"Go on!" Summer said.

"He told me there wasn't anyother place he'd rather be and he told me that us meant everything to him." Marissa smiled remembering, "But he wished he had just one thing on him."

"Oh, the ring....right?" Summer asked.

"Yeah, he told me he wanted to propose to me this summer and he realized that last night was the perfect time to. Eventually after we sat quietly for awhile he got down on one knee and said he couldn't wait any longer and asked me if I would marry him!"

"OMG, Chino got down on one knee!" Summer laughed, "I'm so happy for you Coop!"

"It was really the perfect night!" Marissa sighed.

"So when did he give you the ring?" Summer asked, "Did he just pass it to you?"

"We were out by the pool last night and we were talking and he told me he wanted to make all my dreams come true and then he took my hand and helped me up, got back down on one kneww and asked me to marry him again but this time with the ring!" Marissa said as tears poured out of her eyes, "I can't believe the man of my dreams actually wants to marry me!"

"You're both lucky to have eachother, to have found your soulmate!" Summer said hugging Marissa, "Come on let's go downstairs and grab something to eat, I'm starved!"

Summer and Marissa made their way downstairs to the kitchen where the boys were sitting drinking a cup of coffee.

"Hey why don't we all go out of breakfast and celebrate Coop and Chino's engagement?" Summer suggested.

Everyone looked around at eachother and nodded, "Sounds good, I'm starving!" Ryan said.

"Great, let's all go get dressed and meet back here in ten!" Summer said and headed back upstairs.

Everyone met in ten minutes and left for breakfast.

"So when do you guys want to get married, do you have a date in mind?" Seth asked, "Cause I've got to clear my schedule since I'm going to be the best man!"

Ryan laughed.

"Who do you think you are appointing yourself as best man?" Summer teased, "But he has a point Coop, I need to know since obviously I'm going to be the maidrine of honor."

Marissa laughed..

"We haven't talked about it, actually we never once talked about marriage." Marissa said looking over at Ryan.

"I guess it's time now to start talking about it since we are getting married eventually." Ryan replied.

"Well, did you have a time in mind?" Marissa asked.

"Well I figured since we're both going to school in separate places we should wait till we finish but if you were thinking of another time than we can talk about that." Ryan said.

"Maybe the summer we graduate." Marissa suggested, "maybe a May wedding since we'll finish up in April."

"I like May!" Summer said.

"OK May it is then!" Ryan smiled and Marissa leaned in and kissed him.

"You really did surprise me last night, proposing was the last thing I thought you would do." Marissa smiled, "But it was the best surprise ever!"

"I'm glad." Ryan replied, "So Seth, would you be my best man?"

"Is there anyone else you could ask?" Seth teased, "Of course man!"

Seth reached over and shook Ryan's hand, "Congratulations again man."

"And Sum you'll be my maidrine of honor?" Marissa smiled.

"Like I'd let you have it any other way!" Summer laughed and hugged Marissa, "You better treat her good Chino or else!"

Ryan nodded.

"I'm not worried." Marissa said, she was still glowing from the previous night.

A week later Kirsten and Sandy joined them in Greece. Ryan hadn't told Kirsten or Sandy about proposing, he wasn't sure if Jimmy would have mentioned it to them.

"Hey mom, dad!" Seth said giving his parents a hug, "Did you miss me?"

Sandy laughed, "Actually we did, the house was so empty with you kids there." Sandy said directing the comment to everyone.

"I think you boys should stay home for one more year." Kirsten joked hugging Ryan.

Ryan smiled, "We'll be back before you know it, there's always the summers right."

"Very true." Sandy agreed, "At least we have a month to spend as a family, too bad your dad couldn't join us Summer."

"Yeah, maybe he'll surprise us." Summer sighed and Seth wrapped his arm around Summer to comfort her.

"So what's new, what have the four of you been up too? How was your dad's wedding Marissa?" Kirsten asked.

"Great, it was small and intimate. I haven't heard from him since they left on their honeymoon." Marissa replied, "I'm sure they're having the time of their lives."

"That's great, I can't wait to see picture." Kirsten replied.

"Oh I have some on my camera, I'll go get it to show them to you." Marissa smiled and headed up to the bedroom.

Marissa returned downstairs and led Kirsten to the sitting room to show her the pictures.

"Why don't you boys show me to Kirsten and my room." Sandy said.

Ryan and Seth nodded and led him upstairs while Summer went to join the girls.

Jimmy and Haily arrived not long after so everyone decided to head out to grab supper.

"So man are you guys ever going to tell the rents about getting engaged?" Seth whispered to Ryan.

"Yeah, when the time is right. I'm not sure how your parents will react to it." Ryan replied.

"You won't know till you say something, besides I'm sure they'll be happy for you." Seth whispered back, "Just do it man."

Ryan sighed and turned his attention to Marissa who was sitting beside him. She smiled at him and reached for his hand under the table. Ryan held it and noticed she wasn't wearing the ring.

"Hey, you're not wearing your ring." Ryan said quietly.

"I didn't think it would be appropriate until we till our parents, I have it in my purse if you want me to put it on." Marissa replied feeling bad for not having it on.

"No that's smart, i just thought for a second there, that you may, ah." Ryan said starting to stutter.

"Not want to wear it?" She replied serious.

"Yah." Ryan blushed.

"I do, I'm honored to wear it and once we tell everyone I won't take it off." She smiled and kissed him.

"Maybe we should tell them now." Ryan suggested looking at everyone, they were all talking and laughing having a really great time.

"You think?" Marissa face brightened up.

"Definitely." Ryan smiled and squeezed her hand before she took it back to find the ring in her purse. Once she found it she slid it back on under the table.

"Hey guys, umm there's something that I wanted to tell everyone." Ryan said trying to interrupt everyone's conversations.

Eventually he had everyone's attention and he looked over at Marissa before starting again, "I wanted to tell you all that last week after Jimmy and Hailey's wedding I asked Marissa to marry me."

No one said anything, Jimmy smiled and looked over at Kirsten and Sandy to get their reaction.

"What did she say?" Sandy asked showing no emotion what so ever.

"I said yes." Marissa smiled reaching out to take Ryan's hand with the hand she was wearing her ring on.


	58. Chapter 58

Kirsten got up from the table and walked around to where Ryan and Marissa were sitting.

"I'm happy for you two, congratulations!" Kirsten smiled warmly and gave Ryan a hug and then Marissa, "Let me see that ring!"

"Isn't it beautiful." Marissa said admiring the ring along with Kirsten.

"It's gorgeous, Ryan picked it out?" Kirsten laughed.

"Actually Jimmy and I did." Ryan smiled and looked over at Jimmy.

"See I knew she would say yes, Ryan was terrified you'd say no kiddo." Jimmy stated, "But I didn't think you would have proposed already."

"He proposed the night of your wedding, it was perfect." Marissa smiled and looked over at Ryan.

"Sandy aren't you going to say anything?" Kirsten asked.

Sandy looked at his wife and then at Marissa and Ryan, "I'm sorry you two but I think you are too young to be engaged."

"Sandy!" Kirsten said shocked.

"I'm sorry but they just finished high school." Sandy said, "Now their going off to school in opposite ends of the country, how is marriage going to fit their lives?"

"We're not planning on getting married any time soon, we're happy about it I hope you can be too Sandy." Ryan said softly.

"Then why the engagement?" Sandy asked.

"I wanted Marissa to know where I stand in this relationship before we go off to school. I know how I feel about her won't change a year from now or five years from now, it's something I really wanted to do." Ryan replied

Sandy nodded, "Ok, I'm happy for you guys as long as you both know that it's going to be hard to be in a long distance relationship."

"We know and we're both willing to do it." Marissa smiled.

That night they returned back to the house they were renting, large enough to comfortably sleep at least another 8 or 10 people. Marissa, Kirsten, Hailey and Kirsten were sitting around the kitchen table. Kirsten and Hailey had gotten into the wine and after a few glasses each they had offered Marissa and Summer some so Marissa and Summer were getting a little tipsy.

The guys were playing play station, having a couple of beers but definitely not drinking as much as the woman.

Summer decided she was heading off to bed, she went in and wished Seth a good night and that she would see him in the morning. (Summer and Marissa were sharing a room, the boys although had there own rooms since Ryan had issues with sleeping in the same bed as Seth).

Kirsten decided she was heading off to bed as well, leaving Hailey and Marissa alone. Instead of staying in the kitchen the girls decided to make their way into the living room and hang out with the guys, maybe try their hand at the game.

Marissa walked into the room, she was feeling the alcohol but not too bad, she was feeling good without the sickly feeling of being drunk. She sat down behind Ryan, who was sitting on the floor, Hailey sat on the arm of the couch.

"Can we have a turn?" Marissa asked resting her hands on Ryan's shoulders.

"You guys actually want to play?" Ryan laughed, "You know its a fighting game."

"I bet Hailey and I could take you boys on." Marissa laughed.

Ryan nodded, "Ok try your hardest, you're on!"

Seth passed Hailey his controller.

"Where are you going man?" Ryan asked noticing Seth leaving.

"I'm tired, see you all in the morning!" Seth said yawning leaving the room.

"I'm with him, good night everyone!" Sandy said following his son up the stairs.

"Actually honey maybe we should head up stairs as well." Hailey suggested to Jimmy.

"Alright, you guys don't stay up too late." Jimmy said and leaned down and kissed his daughter, "Good night kiddo. Ryan."

Ryan nodded and watched the last two people walk out of the room.

"Well did we scare everyone away?" Marissa laughed sliding her hands under Ryan's chin pulling his head back to kiss him.

"I'm not complaining." Ryan said turning his body around to face her.

"Neither am I!" Marissa said pulling him up onto the couch.

Ryan smiled but pulled away, "Hold on a sec."

Ryan turned the game off and turned the fireplace on and the stereo on quietly.

Marissa smiled and cuddled into Ryan when he returned, "Sandy wasn't all that happy today about our engagement."

"He's just worried about the both of us, he knows we love eachother and that we're meant for eachother, he just doesn't want anyone hurt." Ryan replied.

"I won't hurt you Ryan, I promise." Marissa whispered.

Ryan smiled, "Good."

"Aren't you going to promise me that you won't hurt me?" Marissa teased.

"Well..." Ryan said, "I can't promise you."

"What, and why not?" Marissa asked.

"Cause I'll do better than that, I'll guarantee that's I'll never hurt you." Ryan smiled and kissed her.

As they were kissing Sandy entered the room

Sandy subtly cleared his throat letting Ryan and Marissa know he was there. Ryan quickly pulled away from Marissa and looked over at Sandy.

"Hey." Ryan said wipping his lips.

"I forgot something, sorry for the interruption." Sandy said grabbing his wallet from the table, "Actually that's a lie, I didn't need my wallet."

"Oh?" Ryan asked confused.

"I actually wanted to talk to the two of you." Sandy confessed and sat across from marissa and Ryan.

"Umm, ok." Marissa said sitting up.

"I'm still having a bit of trouble accepting that this engagement is the right thing to do." Sandy said.

Ryan nodded, "I see your point of view Sandy and I respect it, really I do. But I know I'm happy about it and I know it's the right thing for us."

"But I don't think you do, you guys are just afraid of what might happen with the two of you in completely different states. I know you two love eachother and I know you want to believe it will work and I hope it does; but the reality is it probably won't with or without the engagement." Sandy said.

"What are you trying to tell us? Do you want us to break the engagement because I'm not willing to do it." Ryan stated.

"I want you both to realize that more than likely you two won't be together, long distance relationships hardly ever work." Sandy said.

"Why are you so sure we're not going to last?" Marissa asked.

"Because I've been there." Sandy replied.

Ryan gave him a look to continue talking.

"When I moved from New York to California I was with a girl who I thought was the love of my life, we tried everything to make it work but college changed me and it changed her. We were both broken hearted after the breakup and I don't want you two to go through that." Sandy informed.

"I'm sorry about that Sandy." Ryan said sympathetically, "But if Marissa and I don't try we'll never know if we were meant to be. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make it work."

"I'm committed to making this relationship work too Mr. Cohen; I wish we could have your support." Marissa said.

"Don't get me wrong you two, I'm one of your biggest supporter's. I just want you to know the reality of the situation." Sandy said.

"Thanks Sandy, we do know what we're getting into." Ryan said.

"Alright you two, I'm off to bed. Good Night!" Sandy said and left the room

Ryan and Marissa sat quietly for a few minutes after Sandy left them alone.

"Ryan are you ok?" Marissa asked eventually.

"Yeah I'm ok, I just thought Sandy would have been one of the one's with us on this." Ryan said.

"I know so did I." Marissa said sliding her hand over Ryan's, "So what do you think?"

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked.

"Sandy has some strong feelings about this, have you changed your mind?" Marissa asked.

Ryan looked down, "Are you saying you have?"

"No." Marissa replied.

"I haven't changed my mind either." Ryan answered.

"At least he's cheering for us." Marissa laughed, "It could be worse."

"It could be." Ryan smiled.

"So, where were we before Sandy came down?" Marissa asked crawling ontop of Ryan, who immediately began kissing her.

After a few minutes Marissa pulled away, "Come on, let's go upstairs."

Ryan smiled, "Your dad's up there, my parents are up there, you're sharing a room with Summer."

"But you have your own room," Marissa said kissing him seductively, "We're not loud, no one will ever know."

Ryan kissed her, "Come on!"

Marissa smiled and waited until Ryan turned the fireplace off and led her up the stairs to his room.


End file.
